The possibility of kindness in business: Re-visiting the case of Malden Mills from a Jewish ethics perspective

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The Possibility of Kindness in Business: Re-visiting the Case of Malden Mills from a Jewish Ethics Perspective

Moses L. Pava

Chapter First Online: 31 May 2022

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Part of the Issues in Business Ethics book series (IBET,volume 53) Abstract

The first section of this chapter begins with a summary of the case of Aaron Feurstein and his decision to rebuild his Polartec factory in Massachusetts and to continue paying his idle workers after a devastating fire destroyed most of his production facilities. The next two sections of this paper will explore two highly divergent interpretations. The first version is the standard one taught in business schools and emphasizes Feuerstein’s overly emotional reaction to the fire and the need to apply the tools of rational-decision making, even in the face of powerful intuitions to act otherwise. The second interpretation is less focused on explaining the ultimate outcome and is more interested in providing a deeper description of how Aaron Feuerstein may have understood the human meaning of his decisions to keep the employees on the payroll and to rebuild in Lawrence, MA. In the simplest terms, Feuerstein, motivated by his commitment, care, and compassion towards his long-time employees, in a bold defining moment, knowingly chose to surrender to the traditional value of kindness. The third section explores how one might go about choosing between these two divergent interpretations. It turns out that in choosing between interpretations it is our own values and beliefs and our own vision of business and its possibilities that are in play. Finally, the concluding section of the paper shifts its focus forward and considers the future of kindness in business. To the extent that every act of kindness is and must be justified in purely strategic terms, we might continue using the term kindness, but its original significance will continue to atrophy to the point where the word itself becomes hollow and meaningless. On the other hand, if businesses legitimate themselves to the public because of the wealth businesses produce and because of the voluntarily cooperative ways in which the wealth is produced, genuine kindness in business will potentially flourish. But this second possibility will happen only to the extent that our society truly does value kindness for its own sake.