Motivation from a Christian Perspective

The purpose of this paper is to explore motivation from a Christian perspective and its implications for relationships between management and consumers, managers and employees, and stockholders and managers. The contribution of this paper is twofold: first, it provides a brief review of the literature on motivation as it appears in college business-related textbooks. Second, it introduces a philosophical framework and a Christian perspective of motivation and discusses implications for motivating consumers, managers, and employees. This paper is relevant because a Christian perspective on motivation is missing from college textbooks. Business textbooks that do address this phenomenon merely assume that religion is a manifestation of culture; however, we contend that religion influences culture and culture, in turn, influences behavior. Therefore, a better understanding of motivation, particularly from a Christian perspective, is vital. To aid this understanding, our paper summarizes what is presented on motivation in college textbooks; then, it examines motivation from a Christian perspective and discusses implications for the relationships between management and consumers, managers and employees, and stockholders and managers. More significantly, if offers a theoretical, Christian framework on which to discuss motivation from a Christian perspective. Motivation from a Christian Perspective Brian Porter, Hope College Steve VanderVeen, Calvin College Introduction The purpose of this paper is to explore motivation from a Christian perspective and its implications for relationships between management and consumers, managers and employees, and stockholders and managers. Prior research on motivation has been from a variety of disciplines, including Management, Psychology, and Sociology. For the most part, all significant research has been from a secular position. From a Christian perspective, the majority of writing on motivation has been mostly anecdotal and discussion orientated. Further, there has been little synthesis between the two streams of “secular” and Christian motivation research. The contribution of this paper will be twofold. First, it will provide a brief review of the literature on motivation as it appears in college business-related textbooks. Second, it will introduce a philosophical framework and a Christian perspective of motivation and discuss implications for motivating consumers, managers, and employees. Why This Paper is Relevant A Christian perspective on motivation is missing from college textbooks. Business textbooks that do address this phenomenon merely assume that religion is a manifestation of culture. That is, a response to certain cultural needs, such as the need for moral order, the need for role models, the need to belong, the need for esteem, and the need for selfactualization (e.g., Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs).