Avani Singireddy
Pronouns: She/her
Research Mentor(s): Derek Lief
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Strategy / Business
Program: UROPF
Session: Session 2 (10:00am – 10:50am)
Authors:
Abstract
“Gotta’ Have Faith: The Effect of Organisational Religiosity on Firm Competitive Positioning†Author: Derek Lief The intermingling of religion and business is typically seen as a malfeasance although it is worth considering the extent to whether religious businesses develop a more niche customer base, providing them with a MOAT or competitive advantage in their markets. Also, given the increasing influence of group-thinking on personal decisions, it is worth considering whether widespread adoption of cultural and spiritual beliefs may impact a business’s decision making mechanisms. The majority of the previous literature focuses on the legal implications and broader social harms of perpetuating dogmatic religious beliefs in the corporate world; however, research conducted within the study focuses more on the quantifiable financial impacts to a company’s top-line revenue and debt issued. Furthermore, this study specifically analyzes whether the impact of religion diers based on the size of business through qualitative interviews with small businesses in Northern California. On a broader scale, financial information was collected from company 10Ks or annual reports for Saudi Arabian companies, which are traditionally more religious, to see whether structural factors that promote religion such as a required Zakat tax affects a firm’s competitive pricing. To examine if more religious businesses had higher profit margins, financial information was sensitized to each company’s respective industry and then contrasted among peers. Currently, the study is still in the data collection phase so no conclusive findings may be drawn. As next steps, the scope of religions examined will be broadened beyond Christianity and Islam to reap more comprehensive results.
