- Wayne C. Stumme, Coordinator, Church and Labor Concerns, Institute for
Mission in the U.S.A.
- Ronald M. Green, The John Phillips Professor of Religion and Director of
the Ethics Institute, Dartmouth College
- Al Gini, Managing Editor, Business Ethics Quarterly
- Christine Firer Hinze, Associate Professor of Christian Ethics, Marquette
University
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"I am aware of no other recent study that considers the fundamental ethical
issues from the viewpoints of both labor and management Stewart Herman has
opened up promising possibilities for a more realistic and hopeful ethical
approach to the frequently conflictive relationships of working people and
those who manage modern economic enterprises. His comprehensive and
accurate portrayal of the history, concerns, and struggles of both
employees and their employers, his insightful and helpful appropriation of
biblical materials, his innovative and plausible theory of a covenantal
ethic, and his scrupulous fairness, all commend this study to a wide
readership."
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"Stewart Herman offers a compelling vision of a covenantal business ethic
based upon durable commitments by both management and employees. This
vision stresses both the enduring tensions between labor and management
and the forms of their mutual dependency. It is a vision we are ready for.
Corporate downsizing and restructuring, though sometimes necessary, have
left a moral void that needs to be filled. Durable Goods shows how
important, as an expression both of moral faith and sound business
practice, it is to see that business really is a cooperative phenomenon."
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"Writing both as a philosopher and as a theologian, Herman examines the
fundamental moral structure of the employer/employee relationship. He
reminds us that the primary purpose of business is no to just produce a
product and make a profit, but to help produce better human beings as
well. Work, like life, requires a constant balancing of our moral roles
and practical needs. Herman seeks to help us find and maintain a durable
balance."
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"Bridging typical divides between radical vs. realist critique, and
managerial vs. religious discourse, this perceptive analysis offers fresh
and promising directions for contemporary economic ethics and business
practice. His covenantal interpretation of the history of
labor-management power relations ably blends the legacies of H. Richard
and Reinhold Niebuhr. Scholarly and readable, Durable Goods is a valuable
contribution, of interest to students of business and Christian ethics
alike."
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