Profit and business continuity are concepts that you will probably associate with doing business. Empathy, care, trust and servitude, on the other hand, are not so frequently thought to be important for businesses. However, treating employees by these means as ends in themselves can potentially generate a win-win for most stakeholders of a company, rather than treating them as replaceable inputs that represent a cost at the income statement.
Business research has shown that the softer approach of leadership, called stewardship, benefits both the company and the stakeholders. The stakeholders that benefit from this approach are for instance society, suppliers, clients and employees.
Harry Commandeur (Professor of Industrial Economics and Business Economics at Erasmus School of Economics), Emre Karali (PhD graduate at Rotterdam School of Management) and alumnus Henri Slob, who are affiliated with the Erasmus Institute for Business Economics, are conducting a case study about Agapè in practice in which ten companies are being studied on their level of stewardship-leadership. Several managers and employees of those companies are interviewed in-depth to explore the extent and consequences of this leadership.
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To obtain more information on this research, visit the website of EIBE (currently, only in Dutch).