Business ethics: perspectives from Judaic, Christian, and Islamic scriptures

There is increased emphasis on ethics in business and the teaching and learning of ethics in business schools. One formative source for ethical understanding is one's religious background and beliefs. Therefore, a highly pertinent question is: What are the teachings of various religions regarding ethical practices in commercial activities? Within that broad question, a more limited question is: What can we learn from a comparative study of scriptures that will help us improve the teaching, learning, and practice of business ethics? This paper focuses on the scriptures of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and concludes that within those scriptures there is much in common and relevant in relation to contemporary topics in business ethics. A classroom discussion and dialogue based on these foundations would be helpful to those engaged in the teaching and learning of business ethics.