IMPACT OF

BELIEF SYSTEM
ON BUSINESS
WHAT IS RELIGION?

Religion is the set of beliefs, feelings,

dogmas and practices that define the
relations between human being and
sacred or divinity.
A given religion is defined by specific
elements of a community of believers:
dogmas, sacred books, rites, worship,
sacrament, moral prescription, interdicts,
organization. The majority of religions have
developed starting from a revelation based
on the exemplary history of a nation, of a
prophet or a wise man who taught an ideal
of life.
WORLD’S MAJOR RELIGIONS
 Judaism
 Christianity
 Islam
 Hinduism
 Buddhism

 Sikhism
 Confucianism
 Shinto
 Taoism
BUDDHISM
Religion and philosophy founded in India c.525
BC by Siddhartha Gautama, called the Buddha.
There are over 300 million Buddhists worldwide.
One of the great world religions, it is divided into
two main schools: the Theravada or Hinayana in
Sri Lanka and SE Asia, and the Mahayana in
China, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan.
 IMPACT OF BUDDHISM ON
BUSINESS
 Buddhism, based on the teachings of Siddhartha
Gautama, called “Buddha" or "the enlightened one,"
began in India around 560 B.C., And searches to find
relief for human suffering.
 In business, Buddhists search for the "right
livelihood" and are generally against companies that
do not care for the environment or that abuse
animals.
 APPLYING
BUDDHISM TO
BUSINESS
The Practice of Being Mindful
 IT’S ALL IN THE PRACTICE OF
MINDFULNESS

According to Buddhist belief, mindfulness

is the ability to see things as they really
are without the cloud of feelings,
prejudice, or even mood.
“It’s all about state of mind.”
It’s important to step outside of your
interpretations and reactive emotions and
accept the situation for what it is.
Be aware of your emotional mood when
difficult circumstances arise
 JUDAISM
 Judaism is the oldest of the monotheistic faiths. It affirms the
existence of one God, Yahweh, who entered into covenant with
the descendants of Abraham, God's chosen people.
 Judaism's holy writings reveal how God has been present with
them throughout their history. These writings are known as the
Torah, specifically the five books of Moses, but most broadly
conceived as the Hebrew Scriptures (traditionally called the Old
Testament by Christians) and the compilation of oral tradition
known as the Talmud (which includes the Mishnah, the oral law).
THE IMPACT OF JEWISH
VALUES ON MARKETING
AND BUSINESS PRACTICES
 HONESTY IN THE
MARKETPLACE
 Leviticus (19:11-13): “Do not steal, do not deny falsely, and do
not lie to one another. Do not swear falsely by My name…Do not
cheat your fellow and you shall not rob.” Any type of deceptive
act or practice, including deceptive advertisements and
deceptive packaging, would also be a violation of the Biblical
principle (Exodus 23:7), “Distance yourself from a false matter.”
Moreover, the Torah’s injunction against “placing a stumbling
block before the blind” (Leviticus 19:14) is interpreted by the
Talmud and Midrash to include proffering bad advice to
unsuspecting people or causing others to sin.
 Thus, Jewish law would consider deceptive
advertising and misleading labeling as placing a
stumbling block before the blind and a violation of
Torah law. Even the advertising agency that
created the deceptive advertisement would be
guilty of transgressing this law.
 Merchants were prohibited from falsifying weights
and measures by the Torah or even owning a
dishonest weight (Leviticus 19:35-36;
Deuteronomy 25:13-15). 
 To ensure honest weights and measures, the Talmud
required merchants to wipe their weights once a
week and clean their scales after every weighing.
Market commissioners were appointed to ensure that
businesses used honest weights and measures.
 Vendors were prohibited from rapidly pouring liquids
from great heights which was done by retailers to
generate foam thereby ensuring that the customer
would end up with less product.
 Included in the Torah law against theft and deception is the
requirement that vendors must be honest in selling. Hiding faults
from the buyer is not permitted and such a sale is null and void.
 The Talmud prohibits such deceptions as: mixing your own
produce with that of other farmers when the agreement was to
provide produce from your field; painting animals or utensils in
order to fool prospective buyers into thinking they are younger
or newer; deceiving potential customers by placing the better
quality merchandise on top of the bin (and the lower quality
merchandise on the bottom) in order to make it appear that the
merchandise is of uniformly high quality throughout; selling wine
that has become adulterated with water in your store without
informing the customers.
 FAIR PRICING
 The Torah states (Leviticus 25:14): “If you sell something to
your neighbor or buy something from your neighbor’s hand,
you shall not wrong one another.”
 The Talmud interprets this verse to refer to overcharges and
undercharges. The Talmud ruled that if the overcharge is
more than one-sixth — i.e., the retailer sells an item for a
price that is one-sixth higher than what is generally accepted
as a fair price — the sale is null and void. Similarly, if an
individual is unaware of the true value of an item and wishes
to sell it, one must not take advantage of the seller’s
ignorance and underpay.
THE APPEARANCE OF PROPRIETY IS
IMPORTANT TOO

 The Torah states (Numbers 32:22): “and you shall be

innocent before God and Israel.” The Talmud uses this verse
to derive the principle that one must behave in a manner
that does not give rise to suspicions on the part of others.
 The Torah (Exodus 38:21-31) provides a detailed list of the
amounts of gold, silver, and copper used in the construction
of the Tabernacle. This was done to demonstrate the
importance of keeping clear records and behaving in a way
that does not cause the public to suspect one’s veracity.
 Relations between buyers and sellers, employers and
employees, and borrowers and lenders should be regulated to
prevent the weak from being exploited by the strong, and the
uninformed falling prey to the well-informed.
 “You shall not falsify measures of length, weight, or volume….
 You must pay [a laborer] his wages on the same day, before
the sun sets….
 You shall not deduct interest from loans to your
countrymen….”
 “Let the property of others be as precious in your eyes as
your own.”
 Commerce is to be conducted with honesty and full disclosure
of relevant information.
Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion
which teaches that there is only one God (Allah),
and that Muhammad is the messenger of God. It
is the world's second-largest religion with over
1.8 billion followers or 24.1% of the world's
population, most commonly known as Muslims.
Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful,
unique and has guided humankind through
prophets, revealed scriptures and natural signs.
The primary scriptures of Islam are
the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the
verbatim word of God, and the
teachings and normative example
(called the sunnah, composed of
accounts called hadith) of Muhammad
(c. 570–8 June 632 CE).
Islam means "surrender to the will of Allah,"
the all-powerful, who determines humanity's
fate. Good deeds will be rewarded at the Last
Judgment in paradise, and evil deeds will be
punished in hell.
THE EFFECTS OF
ISLAMIC LAW ON
BUSINESS
PRACTICES
The ethical system in Islam is presented in
light of Shariah – the Islamic social/legal
system.
According to Islam, whatever leads to welfare
of the individual or society is morally good and
whatever is injurious is morally bad. The
ethical system prescribed in Islam is eternally
divine and forms the foundation of an Islamic
society.
Islamic laws compel companies to be wary of
interest, uncertainty or risk.
This means that companies that rely on
compelling interest on the consumer are
prohibited in operating in Islamic states. The
law is there to protect the welfare of all the
parties involved. The strict nature of these
laws often seeks to provide justice and
fairness to both parties.
 No Arab has any superiority over a non-Arab, nor
does a non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab.
Nor does a white man have any superiority over a
black man, or the black man any superiority over
the white man. You are all the children of Adam, and
Adam was created from clay“

Prophet Muhammad 
PRINCIPLES OF
COMPORTMENT
Contracts should be
fair to all parties.
Partnership is preferred
over hierarchical claims.
Interest is prohibited.
"This is the probably the thing
that is most often identified with
Islamic finance.
Compassion is required when a business
is in trouble.
"In any country that has Islamic influences in
its legal structure, if somebody is in
bankruptcy or if somebody is experiencing
financial reversals, you can't put pressure on
them, because that is not an appropriate thing
to do when somebody is down. You don't kick
them when they're down," said Hayes
Names are very important for doing deals
in Islamic countries.
Personal staff can be very influential and
should not be underestimated.
Many people would be insulted if you try to
speak Arabic about something as
important as a deal