November December 2016
Where Christian faith gets down to business
Africa’s kids:
Why 1,000 days matter so much Horsch goes to bat to employ refugees On the audit trail in Myanmar Lathering up a vision of “thoughtfully clean” 1
The Marketplace November December 2016
Roadside stand
Yanked from the headlines Fascinating, isn’t it, how business can sneak into the moral discourse of the day. Not only predictable areas such as ethics and the economy, but into areas where one wouldn’t necessarily expect to see business. This edition of the magazine leads off with two such areas. First is the issue of maternal and child health. Normally, the role of business wouldn’t jump off the page as having a pivotal role in redressing this global scourge. But as you go deeper, you see that economic vigor is a vital player. Second, there’s the issue of refugees. Rarely a day goes by without a headline somewhere about the plight of refugees from Syria and beyond. How these millions of dislocated people will find new sustainable livelihoods is as much a business
issue as anything. Our article on the Horsch family of Germany bears witness to a response that is both corporate and robustly Christian. Many other stories can be yanked from each day’s news menu and mined for a helpful business response. Read on, and try to imagine new areas where your daily work can be salt and light. Extra cred. Preparing for a career? You may want to enrich your CV with some volunteer service. A report from the Business Council of Canada and human resources firm Aon Hewitt says CEOs have taken a liking to “soft skills” such as collaboration, problem-solving and communication which they believe are best learned outside of the business school classroom. The report’s authors found increasing appreciation for the kind of experience people gain through volunteer activities and community involvement. “While grades and educational credentials are certainly important to recruiters, companies are increasingly focused on finding people who can work in teams, solve complex problems and show a willingness to learn.” (Globe and Mail)
Take a break. Who would have thought that working less could boost your country’s gross domestic product. Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Consulting firm Expert Market found that seven of the world’s countries with the highest per capita GDP (including Switzerland, Norway and Germany) are also among the 10 countries with the fewest hours worked. Hmm. Almost makes one want to take the rest of the week off — to help boost the GDP, of course. (TIME magazine) Nuggets file. Cleaning out old files can be fun, like running across a 1991 copy of Business Ethics magazine, now defunct but at one time a valued journalistic friend of ours. While browsing in it a familiar name caught our attention — JB Miller, onetime banker, MMA executive and frequent contributor to The Marketplace. That issue reported on how he “turned the tables on annual employee evaluations” by asking people who reported to him to evaluate his performance as a manager. As senior vice-president of a Florida bank, Miller felt strongly that executives needed to be evaluated from “below” as well as from “above.” His novel approach provided helpful feedback not always found in “top down” evaluations. “Every manager should do this type of evaluation,” Miller was quoted as saying. “It’s one of the really positive ways that a manager can grow.” We found the short report especially interesting because the larger article on which it was based had appeared first in The Marketplace, where it generated considerable buzz in executive circles and led to large organizations like the Chicago Cubs and the Internal Revenue Service contacting Miller for more information. — WK
Cover photo of African child catching spring water by Riccardo Lennart Niels Mayer (iStock)
The Marketplace November December 2016
2
In this issue
6
Giving kids a chance
9
A company says Wilkommen!
Immigration can be a touchy topic, especially in Germany. Agricultural equipment leader Horsch Machines finds robust social, spiritual and business motivations to welcome refugees.
Rolling out the welcome mat for refugees. Page 9
13
“Do I have to like them?”
14
Audit and adventure
16
Lathering up a vision
Departments 22 24 20 21 22
Roadside stand Soul enterprise Soundbites Reviews News
Volume 46, Issue 6 November December 2016 The Marketplace (ISSN 321-330) is published bi-monthly by Mennonite Economic Development Associates at 532 North Oliver Road, Newton, KS 67114. Periodicals postage paid at Newton, KS 67114. Lithographed in U.S.A. Copyright 2016 by MEDA. Editor: Wally Kroeker Design: Ray Dirks
The first 1,000 days — from conception to age two — determines whether a child will thrive or wilt, a new book asserts. That span of time sets the stage for fulfilling individual potential.
Change of address should be sent to Mennonite Economic Development Associates, 1891 Santa Barbara Dr., Ste. 201, Lancaster, PA 17601-4106.
Do you have to like a coworker in order to get along with them? Nice as you may be, you probably won’t get along with everybody. But you still need to get the job done. By Caleb Crider
He’d spent his life as a jeweller, but when the chance came to help audit MEDA’s new project in Myanmar, Ernest Epp couldn’t resist. “I’m not an accountant,” he said, “but I can follow orders.”
She had a lifelong passion for environmental stewardship. How do you morph that into a paying proposition? One way is to start a social enterprise by reviving an age-old craft of soapmaking.
To e-mail an address change, subscription request or anything else relating to delivery of the magazine, please contact subscription@meda.org For editorial matters contact the editor at wkroeker@meda.org or call (204) 956-6436 Subscriptions: $25/year; $45/two years.
Postmaster: Send address changes to The Marketplace 1891 Santa Barbara Dr., Ste. 201 Lancaster, PA 17601-4106
Published by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), whose dual thrust is to encourage a Christian witness in business and to operate business-oriented programs of assistance to the poor. For more information about MEDA call 1-800-665-7026. Web site www.meda.org
Visit our new online home at www.marketplacemagazine.org, where you can download past issues, read articles and discuss topics with others, all from your desktop or mobile device.
3
The Marketplace November December 2016
Photo by
earl aren
Have we been blessed? “We’ve ended the year in the black. Clearly, God has endorsed our work.” The speaker, an executive with a Christian organization, easily linked good financial performance with God’s blessing. But next year wasn’t so great. Income was down; expenses were up. Had God’s blessing been withdrawn? Perhaps the ministry was being tested or challenged, the executive said. But some staff wondered: Could they have it both ways? Duane, a farmer, knows that financial fortune can be tied to weather. When the rain is right and the crop is good, he thanks God (but cautiously, as when hail ravaged his “unblessed” neighbor’s field but passed him by). He knows deep down that “God is good” even if he loses half his crop to early frost. What is the connection between faithfulness and financial success? Why can some fine Christians lose their shirts, while some scoundrels seem to have the Midas Touch? A leading businessman routinely attributed his affluence to God. When his achievements were praised, he blushed and said, “I’ve been blessed.” Other equally devout businessfolk who were mired in misery may have wondered, “Why haven’t I been blessed, Lord?” “Bless” has several shades of meaning. One is “to hallow or consecrate,” as in “bless this food.” Another is “to confer prosperity or happiness,” probably what the wealthy executive meant. It can also suggest “divine approval.” If this is what the businessman had in mind he was perhaps less than modest; humble people seldom boast that God has bestowed approval on them. Usually it’s the rich and successful who invoke blessing language to explain or justify good fortune. The poor don’t. When was the last time we heard someone say, “I’m unemployed and broke. God has surely blessed me.” One biblical scholar says that in Scripture “to bless” is to fortify, to enable, to empower. “Blessing is not some verbal sweetness wafted over the congregation to end the service; blessing is the bestowal of generative powers. When God blesses, God makes productive. To bless is to affirm, but it is more, for to bless is to authorize and simultaneously to enable through empowerment.” Can a business be blessed? Of course, especially when its activities align with God’s kingdom. Businesses that empower and enable people and communities to shape the kind of world God intended will warrant divine approval. They may — or may not — earn big profits, too. With blessing comes increased responsibility. To whom much has been given, much is expected. The Marketplace November December 2016
4
Retirement? Now what? “Figuring out the money is only part of retirement planning,” writes Dan Kadlec in TIME magazine. A bigger concern is, “What now?” Most people need a brand new identity rather than living off the stored fat of a previous career. “No matter what you did in your working life, an extended period of time postcareer redefines you,” says Kadlec. Less than a tenth of people over the age of 75 say their “retired identity” depends on what they used to do at work. Most have forged a new identity to replace the glories of their faded past. Bucket lists? Many people finish them in three years, leaving perhaps decades of free time. One answer may not seem all that new to values-driven people: find a new calling, a new way to serve. “Because your identity in retirement is so tied to your current interests — not necessarily your long career — it is critical that you spend your postcareer years doing something that matters,” writes Kadlec.
a (iStock
)
“Don’t hide your light” “Your editorial in the July/August 2016 issue references the ‘don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing’ parable, and celebrates ‘below-radar generosity’ and anonymous donations. Jesus talks about money often; secrecy is not the final word on giving. I’d like to offer another approach: the ‘don’t hide your light under a bushel’ model of ‘above-radar generosity’ that models faithful giving and encourages generosity in others. “Why does how we talk (or don’t talk) about generosity matter to me? I research how and why Christians give money to church and charity. I vividly recall a focus group where some men told me how they learned generosity from their employers. What a great ministry these bosses had! We can’t assume that people — especially younger people — have learned how to give at home. Praying in our closets is good but we need to talk and pray with others too if we want to encourage the spiritual discipline of prayer. So too with the spiritual discipline of giving — we all need mentors, teachers and role models. “Rebekah Basinger recently wrote that ‘speaking about money with confidence and care is essential to the spiritual development of the people you serve.’ She was addressing pastors but her advice applies equally well to business people. It’s pure joy to hear the testimony of a faithful giver. Givers are grateful folk, trusting in God and glad for the opportunity to share. I have yet to meet a Christian giver who is proud or boastful. I worry that too much emphasis on secret giving buries the teachable moments. And so I encourage the ‘below-radar’ givers to prayerfully consider how you might let your light shine!” — Lori Guenther Reesor, Mississauga, Ontario
Photo by s dominick (iStock)
Minister of manicures
The late Mike Yaconelli used to pastor a small church where one of the members was Elaine, who works as a manicurist. Now, how would a manicurist bring the presence of Christ to her work? Elaine told her pastor, “Mike, I don’t just do nails. Doing nails is nothing more than putting stuff on the ends of women’s fingers and painting it. What I do is listen to women talk. I cry. I laugh. I share in their pain. And I talk, too. After all, the women can’t go anywhere. Their hands are stuck in front of me for two hours.” Mike commented: “Elaine is a minister — ministering with acrylic and polish — becoming a friend, confidant, listener, affirmer, counselor, advice-giver, evangelist. Elaine is the Minister of Manicures. What a calling!” Then there’s Maxine, a supermarket cashier. She says she knows her face may be the only friendly one many people see in a day. “Many times,” she says, “I find I’m called upon to help nurture the emotional state of shoppers — just as the food they’re buying will provide nourishment to their bodies....Often a single word of understanding or a mere look of genuine concern can help heal a bruised heart.”
Overheard:
5
“It’s a great country — if you’ve got enough of it.” — Retired rancher
The Marketplace November December 2016
Giving kids a chance Many patterns are already set by the age of two
A
Development writer Roger Thurow uses that length of time as the title of his new book, The First 1,000 Days: A Crucial Time for Mothers and Children — and the World (Public Affairs, 2016). Those 1,000
Photo by Wally Kroeker
thousand days — the span of time from conception until a child’s second birthday. Not long by any measure, but enough to set the tone for life ahead.
days, he writes, determine whether a child thrives or wilts. That period sets the stage for fulfilling individual potential. “This is the time, science tells us, when the brain develops most rapidly and robustly, when the immune system is bolstered, when the foundation of physical growth is laid. But this is also the time, reality shows us, when potential can be undermined by the perils of a mosquito bite or a sip of dirty water....” Mental and/or physical stunting begins during those first 1,000 days. Children who are cognitively stunted face endless struggles. If they are lucky enough to go to school, they won’t learn well and may drop out early, shrinking their future prospects in the labor force. “A child who is severely stunted
Stunting in a child’s first 1,000 days can be a life sentence of ill health and low performance at school and work.
A Tanzanian woman awaits a check-up at a village clinic. She was part of MEDA’s mosquito net program which protected her and her young child from malaria. The Marketplace November December 2016
6
is sentenced to a life of underachievement: diminished performance in school, lower productivity and wages in the workplace, more health problems throughout life, and a greater propensity for chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease as an adult. And that life sentence is most often rendered by the time a child is two. For stunting,” says Thurow, “is largely the result of a debilitating mix of poor nutri-
tion, unclean environments, and lack of caregiver stimulation during the 1,000 days.”
The economic tentacles
stretch far beyond the individual family and village. “Why do some countries and regions of the world remain poor? Because their mothers and children are malnourished and stunted. They have a lousy first 1,000 days.” Nations with high child stunt-
ing rates lose from five to 16 percent of their GDP every year. Children who get a better and more nourishing start in life will typically earn 20 to 40 percent more in wages and are less likely to develop chronic illnesses.
Other costs cannot be measured so simply: “A poem not written. A song not sung. A novel not imagined. A gadget not invented. A building not designed. A mystery not solved. A horizon not explored. An idea not formed. An inspiration not shared. An innovation not nurtured. A
MEDA’s children
F
amily nutrition and economic impact go hand in hand. Better food and healthier children are always a result of more sustainable livelihoods. Many MEDA programs designed to bolster women’s income, access to finance and other means of empowerment, produce spin-off benefits that dramatically improve a child’s first 1,000 days. Other projects specifically target children’s health. • When Calvin Miller ran a bean program in Bolivia for MEDA, it was said he could drive into a remote village and see, just by looking at the kids in the street, whether that village was eating beans. As MEDA’s Bolivia country manager in the 1980s and 90s, Miller introduced beans as a viable crop to farmers who had migrated down from the highlands, where the altitude made beans hard to cook. Miller not only taught the farmers to grow beans (thus increasing their incomes and bolstering family nutrition), he also formed a national association of
bean producers to improve production and marketing, making Bolivia a major exporter. Consumers reported that as a result of the availability of beans their children were healthier and did better at school. • An estimated 220,000 Africans, mostly pregnant women and infants, are alive today because of MEDA’s battle against malaria, the leading global killer of infants. MEDA organized a voucher system whereby pregnant women (who are most vulnerable to the ravages of malaria) received a coupon that with a small top-up fee could be redeemed for an insecticide-treated mosquito net, one of the most effective ways to prevent malaria. The program made the bednets widely available and provided an incentive for 7,000 small retailers throughout the country to maintain a steady supply of nets for new customers or to replace worn nets. Over time, more than 30 million bednets were distributed in this fashion. • Vitamin A is readily found in leafy greens, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and animal protein. Trouble is,
7
poorer households often can’t afford these foods. In Tanzania alone, one third of children and women of reproductive age are Vitamin A deficient, impeding their development throughout childhood and beyond. MEDA is tackling this deficiency by combining health education with discount-based marketing. It works through local processors of cooking oil to fortify sunflower oil (the country’s most popular cooking product) with Vitamin A. MEDA then educates communities and promotes the oil in local markets through a mobile-based e-voucher scheme, similar to an introductory product coupon found in a supermarket. This is thought to be the first time unrefined fortified sunflower oil is being sold in the developing world. By the time the project ends MEDA hopes to have helped the families of 65,000 children improve access to fortified sunflower oil and decrease malnutrition due to Vitamin A deficiency. ◆
The Marketplace November December 2016
Photo by Wally Kroeker
children under five. Fortunately, campaigns and programs have been mounted to encourage the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets.
Despite its bleak depiction of poverty as the rudder of world misery, this book is not without hope. Thurow digs deep into global efforts to improve latrines, water supplies and nutrition (“the neglected stepchild of international development”). Between 1990 and 2012, for example, mortality among children under
Efforts to combat malaria and vitamin deficiency have helped curb child mortality.
cure not discovered. A kindness not done.”
World Bank figures show
child mortality is 15 times greater in low income countries than in prosperous ones, and mothers’ mortality nearly 30 times greater. “Almost all of those deaths are preventable,” says Thurow. Some risks can be significantly reduced. One is malaria, which among expectant mothers can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery and low birth weight. In Uganda, for example, malaria is to blame for 36 percent of maternal deaths and 31 percent of deaths of
Photo by Steve Sugrim
MEDA’s voucher system provided the financial incentive for this operator of a remote village kiosk to maintain a steady supply of insecticide-treated mosquito nets.
Cooking oil fortified with Vitamin A has given this child a better lease on life. The Marketplace November December 2016
8
five dropped by 50 percent, thanks largely to new vaccines, malaria bed nets and other health innovations. MEDA supporters can feel encouraged when it comes to malaria and Vitamin A deficiency, both of which are on MEDA’s agenda (see sidebar). Eyesight and general health improve with Vitamin A, which MEDA deploys through fortified cooking oil. But countless millions of children under the age of five in the developing world still suffer Vitamin A deficiency, which leaves their immune systems damaged and makes common diseases such as measles and malaria much more dangerous. “If we want to shape the future, to truly improve the world, we have 1,000 days to do it, mother by mother, child by child,” writes Thurow. “For what happens in those 1,000 days through pregnancy to the second birthday determines to a large extent the course of a child’s life — his or her ability to grow, learn, work, succeed — and, by extension, the long-term health, stability, and prosperity of the society in which that child lives.” ◆
Wilkommen! German firm rolls out the welcome mat for refugees
employs 1,200 people in production facilities in Germany, Russia and the U.S. Some 80 percent of its production is sold throughout the European Union, Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union states. Its annual turnover is around 250 million Euros. While known globally for their machinery, family members note with pride that their origin is in farming, reflected in the slogan, “Farming with Passion.” They still run several farms, including a 3,000-hectare operation in Czech Republic.
“I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35 NRSV).
F
ew topics are as highly charged these days as immigration. In the U.S. it comes up often in the presidential campaign. In Europe it sparks polarizing debate and even violence as countries deal with the reality of 10 million people displaced by the Syrian civil war. German Chancellor Part of the solution: Company co-founders Philipp Horsch (left) Angela Merkel has taken and Michael Horsch (right). In the center, Michael’s wife Cornelia. flak for opening borders to a million refugees, not all of whom have readily found work. Among her supThe Horsch famporters you can count ily has a tradition of many businessoffering sustainable people, notably the livelihoods to miHorsch family from grants. This year it Schwandorf, Bavaria. decided to raise the This devout and ante. The process eminently successful began in spring after industrial family has family members held thrown their support earnest discussions behind the refugee about how they could Despite coming from vastly different backgrounds in five countries, movement, at a corpobe part of the solution the apprentices have integrated well into the German system. rate cost of well over a to a growing national million Euros. concern. Practicums were organized and Traugott Horsch, is a leading Horsch Machines, founded in and behind-the-scenes efforts laid the manufacturer of agricultural tillage 1984 and owned by Michael, Philipp and seeding machines. The company base for a social and civil network. 9
The Marketplace November December 2016
In September the have a responsibility here Horsch company began in our own society. We to train 10 refugees from think if we employ them Afghanistan, Eritrea, and if we give them an Somalia, the Ivory Coast education they can be and Albania. integrated much better in “These are technical society. apprentices,” says Cor“The most important nelia Horsch, a principal reason is a mere humaniin the company and wife tarian one: our attitude toof co-owner Michael wards every human being. Horsch. “They do meWe consider it our duty chanics, repair machines, and our responsibility towelding, working with wards society to welcome steel and other materiand to integrate refugees. als.” We are convinced that we German apprenticeshould help people who ships are extensive, usuare on the run and who ally three or more years are in trouble to become long, leading up to posiintegrated and to learn tions such as mechanical the language as quickly as technicians or bookkeeppossible so that they are ers. It can be an exhausable to be independent tive course of study and find work in Gercovering all manner of many.” theory and practice, and Moreover, she muses, fully reflective of vaunted if conditions improve in German technology. their home country “they The prospective apwill have skills that will prentices, young people serve them well if they The technical apprentices work in a variety of areas: mechanwithout parents, had go back. We could even ics, machine repair, welding, and working with steel. come to Germany two help them to go back and begin something at home. They years earlier and had been placed in The company has also made can take their new know-how and youth camps in special classes where lodging provisions. values back to their country. They they learned German. They still are “As apprentices they can’t live will know how western people, how trained in mathematics, a pillar of in refugee camps,” says Horsch. “So Christian people think.” the German system. “We don’t know with the authorities we found two There were practical business what kind of schools they went to,” apartments where they live together. reasons as well. Demographically, a says Horsch. “Some of them have Social workers look after them.” robust future depends on integratbeen on the road for years so they ing people from afar, she says. In the don’t have very good skills in math.” Why did the company go Schwandorf region, where the comThe company worked with a out on such an expensive limb? pany is based, unemployment is nil local trade school to devise a special “We talked about this in the and growth depends on well-trained program for the newcomers that can family,” says Horsch. “We said we employees. eventually lead to additional training “With more than 80% of our proand full certification. duction sold to 30 different countries They also enlist qualified in“We consider it our outside of Germany, we really need structors to train the apprentices in who speak other languages, intercultural skills, as well as to help duty and responsibility people who understand foreign markets and them understand their host country’s other mentalities,” Horsch says. work, cultural and moral values. towards society to Exports are critical not only to That, says Horsch, can be a twothe company but to the country at way street. “We don’t understand welcome and integrate large, she adds. “If we, for whattheir values either. So we have to ever reasons, compromise this, our train all our people who work with economy will suffer. So we have to them.” refugees.” The Marketplace November December 2016
10
develop a ‘culture of welcome’ not only in our company but also in our society.”
The Horsch family grasped that training and hiring their own contingent of refugees was one thing, but they also wanted to help other companies do the same. They knew of companies willing to participate but who were unfamiliar with legal and organizational issues and obligations. Beyond basic willingness, companies needed a model, or template,
Other companies needed a model, or template, to get started and grasp the implications. The Horsch family wanted to provide it. to get started and understand the range of language and educational implications. The Horsch family wanted to provide it. Thus was born a holistic training concept that is called “Schwandorf’s cross-cultural training program.” They couldn’t have pulled it off without the cooperative network of assistance, says Horsch. These included the Vocational School Center, Foreigners’ Office, Youth Welfare Service, Employment Agency, the Haus des Guten Hirten (House of the Good Shepherd), the Kolping Educational Institute and the Institute of Co-operation Management from the University of Regensburg. Together this network provides assistance on the status of the refugees and issues related to unaccompanied minors who seek refuge; schooling; accommodation; internship requirements; and cross-cultural issues and courses. Every company
Horsch officials hope that if conditions improve in their home countries, apprentices will have picked up skills they can use if they go back and start anew.
that is willing to train refugees can access the program for help with apprenticeship and vocational schooling, says Horsch.
Was the new initiative a
tough sell among employees? Not really, says Horsch. 11
Her husband, Michael, and his brother Philipp met with the entire work force in the company’s various sites and explained why the family thought it important to employ and help the refugees. Some employees were a bit apprehensive of the new responsibility The Marketplace November December 2016
Horsch staff and their newest team of apprentices from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia, Ivory Coast and Albania.
but they grew to embrace the idea, says Cornelia Horsch. Newcomers are nothing new for both the Horsch company and the country. “As far back as the 1990s we
accepted boat people, people from Russia, Ukraine, China and Poland. When you talk with staff they realize, Oh yeah, that’s true.” Horsch says her country’s strong
Good shepherds in business
S
howing moral and spiritual fibre fits the Horsch comfort zone. This was evident at the 2009 assembly of the Mennonite World Conference in Paraguay. Company co-founder Philipp Horsch turned heads at a MEDA seminar there when he promoted the hidden business benefit of “soft factors.” In his speech he said a question his company faced was “How can we build trust among our co-workers, our customers and our suppliers?” His answer used a parable of Jesus (John 10:11-16): “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know my Father and I lay down my life for the sheep....” How many business leaders, he asked, saw themselves as a good shepherd? Horsch said one of his greatest joys was to see longtime employees caring for their colleagues, being
The Marketplace November December 2016
highly dedicated to their job, and keeping the interests of the business close to their hearts. “If they notice colleagues having problems that are often not work-related, they try to help.” At Horsch Machines, he said, everyone sought to be flexible and constructive, such as helping to adjust production plans to economic shifts. “If we take responsibility for the people who surround us, if we build relationships, if we develop understanding for one another, be it for a co-worker, supplier or customer, then everyone will make an effort according to their abilities to find solutions for all challenges that come up.” As in the parable, Horsch said, “People who follow us will trust us and give us their best. They will not quit at the first opportunity because the pay is higher somewhere else....” ◆
12
rights movement has come under some fire as extremists stoke fears of immigration. “We wanted to tell our workers we think it’s not good to go back to how it was in the 1930s and 40s.” As the country, like other regions of Europe and beyond, is caught up in the politics of fear, the Horsch family wanted to model corporate stability and demonstrate, as best they could, that the fears of the extreme right were unfounded. In this they have the complete support of their Mennonite church community, Horsch says. “They are completely behind us.” Other companies, including those owned by Mennonites, are following the Horsch family’s lead in taking apprentices or at least trainees and interns. Many generally support Merkel’s refugee policy, both from a humanitarian and Christian standpoint. Horsch points to a family friend whose company recently took two refugee employees. Michael Horsch, meanwhile, is head of the local Rotary Club this year and together with the Lions Club has organized a charity roundtable for late November. “We want to invite businesspeople and explain why we are doing this and also obtain financing to hire a person who will look after refugees and encourage other companies to employ them,” he says. ◆
Do I have to like someone to get along? by Caleb Crider
W
hat is the difference between getting along with someone and liking them? Do we have to like someone before we can get along with them? This question comes up when we have coworkers we don’t particularly enjoy. Perhaps their personality rubs us the wrong way or we feel intimidated by them. Maybe we think they don’t do their job very well. But does this dislike mean that antagonism and conflict are unavoidable? Getting along vs. liking a coworker What does “getting along” look like? Here is one way to think about it: Getting along with a coworker means you have a working relationship that gets the job done without constant conflict. When issues come up, you work through them without raising a ruckus. You lay aside unhealthy attitudes like tit-for-tat and unworkableness, and you go out of your way to avoid offending coworkers. How is this different from liking someone? The above description of getting along doesn’t include any element of friendship or fondness. That is where the “like” comes in. When we like someone, we find something appealing about them that pulls us toward them. We enjoy hearing what
Photo by Shironosov (iStock)
In an ideal world we’ll like everyone we work with. But getting the job done transcends personal fondness.
they say, or we enjoy seeing what they do, or we enjoy interacting with them. You can get along with someone more easily if you like them, but we are not limited to getting along only with people we like. And even people we like aren’t always easy to get along with. Our closest friends at work — those we like — will get on our nerves occasionally. Different levels of getting along In any workplace there are different levels of engagement between coworkers. Some people work closely 13
together during the course of a project, while others interact only occasionally. In the same way, there are different levels of positive relationship between coworkers. (I am not including negative or antagonistic relationships). The three I list here aren’t conclusive, but it’s one framework to consider. 1. Some coworkers simply coexist. 2. Some coworkers have camaraderie. 3. Some coworkers have a heartto-heart connection. Our goal should be to keep all of our workplace relationships at least at Level 1 regardless of whether we like the person or not. This is a very basic level of getting along. Many of our coworkers may be on Level 2, and perhaps a few at Level 3. And the thing is, our coworkers aren’t destined to stay on the same level. Learning to coexist with someone can, over time, develop camaraderie. For example, I once had a coworker I didn’t like — she wasn’t even on Level 1, because we couldn’t even get along at first. But today this person is a trusted and loyal friend. That is the potential and the power of getting along. ◆ Caleb Crider, an employee at Christian Light Publications, is author of the new book, Getting Along at Work. He blogs at www.gettingalongatwork.com.
The Marketplace November December 2016
Audit and adventure As a volunteer auditor, jeweller Ernest Epp saw MEDA’s Myanmar project from the inside, including a look at how his tax dollars are spent
E
Affairs Canada (GAC) and rnest Epp got his the rest from MEDA supfirst wind of audit porters. while visiting with MEDA representa“Given the size of tive Bob Kroeker in Winthe project, GAC required nipeg this summer. MEDA to perform an an“Bob happened to nual internal audit to make mention audit trips, and sure that the dollars are that MEDA supporters being spent as they should were sometimes recruited be,” Epp wrote in a blog to to help out,” Epp says. friends. “As the project is Before long he received now one year old, MEDA a call from Susan Schmitz, sent Susan Schmitz to MEDA’s senior project auperform an audit. For this ditor, who conducts several purpose, they looked for a project audits every year volunteer assistant, and, and takes volunteers along here I am! It’s the first when suitable. She invited time that I’ll actually be him to join such a trip to able to see your tax dollars Myanmar (formerly Burat work, close-up.” Once he adjusted to ma). He told her, “I’m not an accountant, but I can the high heat, humidity follow orders. I know the and broken sidewalks, difference between a debit Epp quickly became savvy and a credit. I’ll come.” to local complexities and He was being modest. nuances. As an example, From 1970 to his retiregetting registered (and ment in 2013 Epp was being able to open a bank immersed in his family’s account) has taken MEDA a full year. Until that is company, Independent The auditors and three staff visited the Shwedagon Pagocompleted, money from Jewellers, and became an da, a major tourist site. From left: Wint Thazin Phyo, Wuit the Canadian donor has expert gemologist. Decades Yee Aung, Ernest Epp, Susan Schmitz and May Sett. to flow through several of running a thriving busieconomic environment. The five-year entities, with handling fees charged ness taught him more than just the project has a budget of $18.4 milat every step. “It’s a cash society; rudiments of finance. lion, $16 million coming from Global everything is done in cash. Cheques In late August he left for a twoare almost nonexistent,” Epp says. week visit to Yangon, Myanmar’s Cash-only requires tracking the largest city. There he received a “MEDA has, in one advances that staff need to carry whirlwind orientation to MEDA’s out their tasks. Epp worked with new project, which aims to help “payment testing,” checking the 25,000 women in the Shan and Kayin year, put together a procedures for payment, receipts states grasp new business opportuniand supporting documents. He also ties (starting with market vegetables very qualified team.” worked with payroll reconciliation, and rice) in the country’s changing The Marketplace November December 2016
14
The audit visit happened to coincide with the MEDA staff’s celebration of their one-year anniversary.
MEDA’s office in Yangon, Myanmar.
making sure employees had received what they were promised, and with procurement issues. Both MEDA and GAC have guidelines for this. In Myanmar, MEDA is partnering with five local NGOs — known as Key Facilitating Partners (KFP) — to increase the income and status of women smaller producers as economic actors and leaders in their community. These partners must also
Epp visited two orphanages he supports and helped stock up on school supplies and other items. Shown from left, pastor Joshua, pastor David and his wife, pastor DiDim. 15
comply with the MEDA guidelines. The experience gave Epp a new perspective on MEDA’s work as it meets donor (GAC) requirements and merges them with local sensibilities. In the process, Epp got to know MEDA’s 25 Yangon employees well. He reported to his blog audience that “MEDA has, in one year, put together a very qualified team. Your tax dollars are being spent as they should be.” Schmitz agreed. “I was extremely impressed with how professional they were,” she says. “If I found something that needed attention, they would have already remedied it by the next day, either by changing the form or changing the process. They were very responsive.” On Epp’s last day three staff members took him and Schmitz to the Shwedagon pagoda. As a lifelong jeweller Epp was intrigued by this 325-foot high monument to the Buddha, whose peak is inlaid with 5,448 diamonds, 2,317 rubies, and a 76-carat diamond at the top. “The entire building is covered in goldplating and as such can be seen from a great distance and becomes the orientation point for foreigners in Yangon,” Epp says. Epp also took time to visit two Christian couples who run orphanages that he helps support. The couples care for some 25 orphans in their own cramped quarters in two Yangon townships. They feed and clothe the children and try, as funds permit, to send them to school. One couple relies completely on voluntary donations while the other operates a small shack in front of their home selling water, rice, charcoal and other items. Prior to his departure from Winnipeg, Epp’s sons (who now run the family business) had given him a sum of money to help the orphanages. Epp took the two couples on a shopping trip where they chose to buy 80 dozen workbooks, pencils and erasers, eight large bags of laundry detergent, and a huge bag of chickpeas. ◆ The Marketplace November December 2016
Lathering up a vision Social entrepreneur yearns to make the world a better place — one shower at a time
A
gidasin. That’s Ojibwe for “On top of a rock.” It’s a place where you can see distant vistas and gain perspective. Maybe imagine a new future. For Aubrey Helmuth Miller, it was a place to discern a new calling. She decided to start a social enterprise. Miller had no business experience when she started. In college she studied music and education and taught for five years, including serving a Mennonite Central Committee term in Bolivia. She returned to her home in Harrisonburg, Va., and continued teaching. Then she and her husband Clinton moved to Ohio, where he is from, settling first in Kidron, then Canton. In time they began to feel other tugs. “All my life I’ve had a deepseated passion for environmental stewardship,” says Miller. “I’ve been involved in wilderness and outdoor experiences my whole life. I felt a calling to environmental advocacy, but not wanting to go into its political aspects.”
The couple seized a chance to work for a small non-profit wilderness camp in northern Minnesota. For two years they worked with the camp and guided for it, which Miller had done for them several years previously. “In 2012 we pursued Clinton’s lifelong dream to go on an extended road trip to visit wild places around the country,” says Miller. “We traded our jobs for a van
The Marketplace November December 2016
and open road. Mostly we wanted to have fun but there was also an element of both having jobs that we didn’t want to do long term. “We needed time and space to evaluate. Too often in modern life, we’re so busy that we forget to 16
reflect. We lose sight of how interdependent we are on the earth and each other. Taking time to slow down — to notice, to truly pay attention to our relationships with our fellow travelers and the earth — had an enormous impact on us.”
She enjoyed the hands-on process of making something beautiful out of something that would have been wasted. Her hobby soon morphed into a business. Photos by Tina M Knight Photography That journey became their agidasin, a term from northern Minnesota’s Ojibwes — their top of the rock quest for perspective. “I started making soap and found I really enjoyed the hands-on process of making something beautiful out of something that would have been wasted,” Miller says. That something, in this case, is pig lard, which she gets from local farmers in a mutually beneficial partnership, and which she blends with other highquality natural oils and essential oils to produce soap. It began as a hobby but soon morphed into a business befitting her dream of environmental stewardship. So in March 2014 she opened for business under the name Redbud Suds Soap Co. This year the name was simplified to REDBUDSUDS. “The name is a nod to my roots in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where the redbud trees are the first to bloom on the mountainsides in the spring,” Miller says. “REDBUDSUDS is a reminder that there’s a better season ahead. It is more than something to get you clean; it’s a reminder that every day we make small but important choices that actually make a difference.” For a time she made a series of different all-natural soap products with fragrances such as Rosemary Mint, Lavender Zest and Sunshine.
long-lasting nature of our soap.”
Miller’s process
“Each bar is a symbol that our everyday actions matter.”
Then she settled on a single product, a multi-purpose shampoo plus body soap in one shower bar, available in four scents and an unscented option. “We handcraft one-of-a-kind shower bars for adventurers, travelers and people wanting to cut the clutter and the chemicals from their routines,” says Miller. “They’re shampoo bars designed to cleanse and condition your hair, plus they can be used for your whole body. They’re made exclusively with ingredients you can pronounce. We even use locally-sourced Berkshire lard, a key ingredient that helps make a great lather and adds to the hardness and 17
is not unlike what was employed in many prairie homes a century ago. “I use the same process they would have used, called the traditional cold process method.” This basically involves melting down oils or fats and combining them with a solution of lye and liquid. “You don’t cook it, or bake it, or heat it so the natural qualities of the essential oils are not compromised.” Once formed, each batch is set aside to cure for a month. “I started out with recipes I read in books and adjusted the formula to get the properties I’m looking for. I utilize the local resources I have available, and maintain a high standard of natural, with no synthetic or artificial additives. One of the things that’s fun about being a soapmaker is I can make it exactly as I want.” For her that means reducing waste and using local resources to benefit the local community, all wrapped up in a resolute mission to be “thoughtfully clean.” She wants a product that she and others can believe in, and which allows her a platform to speak about an issue close to her heart. Miller is as eager to talk about production and sales as she is about her undergirding philosophy. “You will never see palm oil The Marketplace November December 2016
in our soap, a common ingredient found in handcrafted and commercial products,” she says. “Why? Palm oil production is steeped in environmental degradation and political corruption around the globe. We found lard to be a fantastic alternative that provides the same (and more) benefits in our soap, plus it’s produced right here in Ohio! We keep sourcing, sustainability and simplicity in mind as we live and promote a ‘thoughtfully clean’ lifestyle.”
Miller produces 1,000 to 2,000 bars a month, which she sells at craft shows and urban markets, as well as online (www.redbudsuds. com). Her goal is to partner with retail stores to sell wholesale. Miller measures out “ingredients you can pronounce” to be added to the Berk“Another idea I’m very excited shire lard she sources from local farmers. Nothing is synthetic or artificial. about is gifts for businesses to thank their customers or clients with a thoughtfully crafted, environmentally friendly gift option.” She already has developed a partnership with nüCamp, formerly Pleasant Valley Trailers, manufacturers of Little Guy teardrop and other mini-RVs. The largest manufacturer in the U.S. is located in the next county. Every trailer sold comes with a bar of REDBUDSUDS shampoo as a welcome gift. Miller is the owner and sole employee of REDBUDSUDS. Her husband Clinton, a steady supporter, works in a family business that does financial planning. Monthly production is 1,000 to 2,000 shower bars, which are sold at craft shows and marShe would describe kets. Plans include wholesale distribution and thank-you gifts for businesses. her young firm as a social our world today.” positive change,” Miller says. “REDenterprise, and networks Miller quips that she doesn’t antic- BUDSUDS shower bars, each one eagerly with other social entrepreipate being the next Johnson & Johnhand stamped ‘thoughtfully clean,’ neurs. son but would like to grow enough are more than just a bar of soap; “My hope is that through to hire staff and be able to work at they’re a symbol that our everyday the mission of REDBUDSUDS — actions matter. Together, we can sharing her mission in other ways. ‘thoughtfully clean’ — we can create make the world a better place, one “Little things we do daily as a space of encouragement and supday (and one shower!) at a time. As individuals have a huge collective port to help each other figure out I like to say: small drops make an how to respond to the overwhelming impact. In isolation, it’s hard to see ocean. Let’s make waves.” ◆ how we personally can effect great social and environmental crises of The Marketplace November December 2016
18
19
The Marketplace November December 2016
Soundbites
God’s complete role model It’s notable that the Wife of Noble Character described in the Epilogue of Proverbs “supplies the merchants with sashes,” which means she markets products to other businesspeople, making her a business-to-business marketer (Proverbs 31:24). Even more notable, however, is the fact that she is one of very few people in all of scripture who God seems to hold up as a complete role model. All of her behavior, as far as we know, is laudable. And what is her occupation? She’s a marketer! — David Hagenbuch in Honorable Influence: A Christian’s Guide to Faithful Marketing (reviewed on following page)
Board diversity You get better decision-making from boards that are more diverse. It’s not
just the right thing to do from a societal perspective, it’s the right thing to do from a corporate performance perspective, because you get better outcomes. — Rob Brouwer, KPMG partner and Ontario chapter chair of the Institute of Corporate Directors, in the Globe & Mail
Her own business Women, I’ve found, often have a harder time than men identifying their gifts and talking about them. Their mothers have trained them to be modest and unassuming and not to talk about themselves in a way that anyone could interpret as bragging. And many of the special qualities women have to contribute, such as sensitivity to relationships, historically have not been valued in the
workplace, especially in the business world.... It is no surprise to me that capable women are leaving companies in droves and starting their own businesses. I am convinced that this is due not only to lack of personal opportunities but also to work environments that don’t value women’s gifts and therefore inhibit their growth and development. — Robin A. Sheerer in No More Blue Mondays
Real life? For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin — real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. — Alfred D’Souza
Call a pro You wouldn’t believe the number of fires caused by amateurish wiring. One of the most dangerous guys in the city is the home handyman, and the second most dangerous guy is his brother-inlaw. — Winnipeg arson investigator Ken Swan in Report on Business magazine
Comments? Would you like to comment on anything in this magazine, or on any other matters relating to business and faith? Send your thoughts to wkroeker@meda.org
The Marketplace November December 2016
20
Reviews
A moral lifeline for marketers Honorable Influence: A Christian’s Guide to Faithful Marketing. By David Hagenbuch (Aldersgate Press, 2016, $14.99 U.S. 177 pp.)
M
y wife and I sometimes spar about which one of us is more susceptible to TV ads. I tend to lose such debates. I admit to being curious about the new crossover SUV that promises great fuel economy. And it’s hard for me not to run out and try the latest habanero offering in the fast-food wars. So when it comes to a key premise of David Hagenbuch’s new book, I should plead guilty. Hagenbuch, professor of marketing at Messiah College in Mechanicsburgh, Pa., contends that marketers have much more influence than most people realize and “might impact you more than any other group.” In fact, “it’s doubtful that any business discipline directly touches as many lives as marketing does.” Wow. If that’s true, it’s all the sadder that so many of us think poorly of these practitioners. As Hagenbuch shows, marketers get low grades for honesty and ethical standards. “Almost every year, only 10-12 percent of respondents polled by Gallup have rated advertising practitioners as having high or very high morality,” he says. “If you’re a Christian marketer, those results should make you do some soulsearching,” and perhaps even ask, “Can my marketing career really be part of a kingdom calling?” He wants to help. His purpose here is “to help move the needle on marketing morality and ensure that the field’s impact is more consistently positive.” It’s helpful to understand what Hagenbuch means by marketing. It is
not to cajole anyone into buying something they don’t want. It actually has a noble intent, which often escapes those who denigrate the discipline. At its core, marketing “is the process by which a seller encourages a buyer to participate in a mutually beneficial exchange of products, services, or ideas.” In other words, it’s a win-win transaction, something often lost on critics. While trying to restore lost luster to an under-appreciated discipline, Hagenbuch does not gloss over shortfalls. Every instance of unethical influence in marketing falls into one of seven areas, he says: 1. Deception: leading another to believe an untruth 2. Coercion: pressuring people to achieve an outcome against their will 3. Manipulation: scheming to achieve an outcome that otherwise would not be chosen 4. Denigration: cheapening the inherent worth of people or things 21
5. Intrusion: entering another person’s physical or mental space without the other’s complete welcome 6. Encouraging overindulgence: prompting excess beyond what’s beneficial for individuals physically, emotionally, financially, or otherwise. 7. Neglect: not offering the influence that is expected from a competent professional in a given field He carefully unpacks the implications of these “seven sins.” Many consumers will have experienced one or more of them personally, like deception, for example, which is pervasive in marketing but doesn’t have to be. Understanding these sins can help consumers “more easily identify abuses of marketing influence and hold unscrupulous practitioners accountable.” Hagenbuch thoughtfully covers “marketing and the church” as well as the general theme of Christian ethics in a secular marketplace. He seeks to provide a balanced perspective on the discipline, urging readers to “identify positive and negative practices in the field and speak out ....[D]on’t fall silent when others claim that all marketing is bad. Remind them in a caring and tactful way of the full scope of the discipline. It’s not just advertising, but also includes product development, distribution, service after the sale, and more.” He offers two principles to help marketers wield their impact more mindfully: (1) Influence others to their benefit, and (2) “Love your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:27).” This book is a must for marketers, and a great read for the rest of us who, like it or not, are in their grip. — Wally Kroeker The Marketplace November December 2016
News
Philippines ranks first for women entrepreneurs Mennonite missionary Joji Felicitas Pantoja is one of many Asian women who has responded to social ills by starting a business. As reported in this magazine in 2013 (see photo of magazine cover), Pantoja noticed that whenever anyone held peace talks in the strife-torn Philippines island of Mindanao, coffee was served as a social lubricant. Realizing that just talking about peace wasn’t enough when communities couldn’t even meet basic food and health needs, she hit on the idea of using coffee as a vehicle for change. She set up “Coffee for Peace” to help local farmers revitalize their industry, managing to triple their income in the process. “Peace is not just the absence of war,” she told Thomson Reuters recently. “If we don’t address the economic aspect, it’s not complete.” An online poll of 900 social enterprise experts conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation found that “across Asia women like Pantoja are re-examining society’s problems through a business lens, playing a more leading role than women
in other regions in harnessing the power of markets to tackle poverty and social ills.” The survey of the world’s 45 biggest economies found that women in the Philippines fared best when it came to leadership of social enterprises and gender pay. Five other spots in the top 10 were also in Asia — Malaysia, China, Hong Kong,
Big industrial farms – good for Mother Earth? Small, local farms are great but to sustainably meet the demands of climate change and population growth we’ll need to look to big farmers, writes Jayson Lusk, professor of agricultural economics at Oklahoma State University, in the New York Times. Big farmers (also called industrial farmers) compose less than eight percent of all growers but produce 80 percent of the food in the U.S. — and they don’t get the credit they deserve, he writes. Nor do they warrant The Marketplace November December 2016
being called corporate operations as most are family-owned (only three percent run by nonfamily corporations). Lusk describes them as “among the most progressive, technologically savvy growers on the planet” whose use of technology makes them “far gentler on the environment than at any time in history.” And they are as concerned as anyone about soil erosion, runoff, fertilizer use and animal welfare, Lusk says. Moreover, they are better 22
Indonesia and Thailand. Russia, Norway and Canada rounded out the top 10. Brazil came last and the United States fared poorly because of a perception that many women are paid less than men. Two-thirds of experts said Asian women are well represented in leadership in social enterprises. By comparison, a 2015 Deloitte study showed that women globally hold only 12 percent of board seats. Slightly less than half (48 percent) of experts said women in social enterprises were paid the same as men. Asian women attributed their success to a fairer playing field and a tendency to put compassion over valuation. “Whereas men want to be like Mark Zuckerberg, women want to do well for the community,” said Peetachai Dejkraisak, co-founder of a rice firm called Siam Organic. “Social entrepreneurs are inherently driven by improving people’s lives, lifting people out of poverty. Women social entrepreneurs are better at doing this than their male counterparts.” ◆ equipped to make a difference with high-tech solutions like precision agriculture. “Using location-specific information about soil nutrients, moisture and productivity of the previous year, new tools, known as ‘variable rate applicators,’ can put fertilizer only on those areas of the field that need it (which may reduce nitrogen runoff into waterways).” Meanwhile, GPS tractors and planters that are often out of reach of small operators allow big farmers to sow more strategically and achieve greater efficiency. Other tools in their kit: “soil sensors to measure water content, drones, satellite images, alternative +
management techniques like low- and no-till farming, efficient irrigation and mechanical harvesters, Lusk says. Today’s farmers track crop prices and thunderstorms on smartphones, he adds. Drones monitor crop yields, insect infestations and cattle health and location. “[I]ncreased size has advantages, especially better opportunities to invest in new technologies and to benefit from economies of scale,” writes Lusk. “Buying a $400,000 combine that gives farmers detailed information on the variations in crop yield in different parts of the field would never pay on just five acres of land; at 5,000 acres, it is a different story. “These technologies reduce the
use of water and fertilizer and harm to the environment. Modern seed varieties... have allowed farmers to convert to low- and no-till cropping systems, and can encourage the adoption of nitrogen-fixing cover crops such as clover or alfalfa to promote soil health.” No-till methods used by largescale operators have reduced soil erosion by nearly half since the 1980s, he says. Other improvements have lowered the use of energy, water and greenhouse-gas emissions of food production. New genetic tools and practices have produced wheat varieties that resist disease with less insecticide and fungicide. While small farmers still have
23
much to offer, Lusk concludes that “romantic, pastoral images of farming from yesteryear are far from representing reality.” ◆
Visit our new online home at www.marketplacemagazine.org, where you can download past issues, read articles and discuss topics with others, all from your desktop or mobile device.
The Marketplace November December 2016
A pledge for the first 1,000 days ... and beyond “She will watch over you,” Ghana watercolor by Ray Dirks
The Marketplace November December 2016
24
