Survey says business people prefer divine counsel over spouse, religious leaders

(WSJ) A survey of business leaders found that when faced with a serious business decision, 74 percent "pray to God for help or inspiration." By contrast, only 65 percent said they "talk it over with your spouse."

The survey, commissioned by Central Lutheran Church of Minneapolis and conducted by Lawrence Research of Santa Ana, California, polled a random national sample of 500 business executives, defined as company owners, officers, executives, directors or managers. Three out of five of those surveyed were owners or managers of companies with more than 10 workers. A higher-than-average percentage of these executives claimed membership in a church or synagogue,72 percent as compared with 64 percent for all Americans.

The poll wasn't related to the ethics controversy ensnarling corporate America. Yet on the subject of business ethics 70 percent said they believe that business leaders try to obey the laws. However, six out of 10 said they believe their specific competitors had done something unethical to gain an advantage, and 13 percent said their competitors had done it frequently.

Central Lutheran commissioned the poll because the church is located near downtown Minneapolis and yet experiences minimal interaction with the business community. The poll illustrated that gap: While 74 percent of the surveyed executives would pray about a serious business decision, only 33 percent would talk it over with a spiritual or religious leader--even though 44 percent had had a serious conversation within the past three years with a pastor, priest or rabbi.

The poll concluded that executives talk to religious leaders not about business issues but rather about personal and theological matters. Only 19 percent said they had ever discussed a business problem with a religious leader.

August 2002