Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Servicemaster Company As A Model For Bam Startups, Larry W. Sharp

Pollard Research Fellowship Papers

A template/typology for Business as Mission startups using the redemptive methodologies of ServiceMaster, which focused on the people-first development of the employee, with a focus on areas of the world which restrict free speech.

Managing Diversity At Servicemaster, Maria Lai-Ling Lam

Pollard Research Fellowship Papers

ServiceMaster developed their capacity of managing diversity in diverse global workforce, workplace, and marketplace through their deep-rooted four objectives: Honor God in all we do, help people to develop, pursue excellence, and grow profitability. The leaders used these four objectives to make quality decisions in the midst of differences, similarities, and the related tensions and complexities. The leaders practiced the concept of “shingles on a roof”, exemplified the characteristics of diversity-mature individuals, advocated the integration-learning perspective of diversity, developed religious inclusivity, promoted minorities and women as leaders, developed a teaching and learning organization culture. Managing diversity at ServiceMaster were embedded …

Management As A Liberal Art? Exploring The Connections, Laura G. Singleton

Pollard Research Fellowship Papers

Essay exploring Peter Drucker's claim for the field of management as a liberal art, comparing his writing with works on liberal education by John Henry Newman and Martha Nussbaum, and drawing upon examples of management practice from C. William Pollard of ServiceMaster.

Servant Leadership At Servicemaster: A Commitment To Love, Development, And Diversity, Helen H. Chung

Pollard Research Fellowship Papers

In recent years, servant leadership has gained currency as a promising pathway for inclusive organizations, where individuals can experience a sense of belonging and participate in decision-making. Given the framework’s significant attitudinal and behavioral demands, potential servant-leaders may need to consider the costs and benefits of the servant leadership mantle. Drawing from a conservation of resources theory, I propose that both individuals and organizations will increasingly need to consider the personal and environmental conditions (i.e., resource caravans) that support servant leader behaviors. Specifically, I examine servant leadership from a critical lens, asking the question of how women and members of …

Computer Vision Machine Learning And Future-Oriented Ethics, Abagayle Lee Blank

Honors Projects

Computer Vision Machine Learning (CVML) in the application of facial recognition is currently being researched, developed, and deployed across the world. It is of interest to governments, technology companies, and consumers. However, fundamental issues remain related to human rights, error rates, and bias. These issues have the potential to create societal backlash towards the technology which could limit its benefits as well as harm people in the process. To develop facial recognition technology that will be beneficial to society in and beyond the next decade, society must put ethics at the forefront. Drawing on AI4People’s adaption of bioethics for AI, …

Living On Heaven's Doorstep: A Multimedia Project With The Warm Beach Senior Community, Justina Grace Brown

Honors Projects

Having a website is no longer a luxury but a requirement. Nonprofits need to take advantage of the digital age to better reach their constituents yet, overall, they struggle to do this well. Because of lack of resources, their reliance on volunteers, and the inability to keep up with the evolving demands of a website, nonprofits (especially small ones) are not using the web to their full advantage. Taking the research and applying it to a nonprofit retirement community—Warm Beach Senior Community—the challenges are seen first-hand.

Management As A Christian Liberal Art, Daniel Castelo

Pollard Research Fellowship Papers

C. William Pollard, the long-time serving past CEO of The ServiceMaster Company, was often inclined to remark that “management is a liberal art.” This is a phrase attributable to one of Pollard’s friends and consultants, Peter Drucker, the pioneer of the academic discipline of management. Several features of the phrase are worth noting. First of all, few managers or specialists in the field would be inclined to speak of management in this way; therefore, the phrase stands as a kind of anomaly, as an odd remark in the face of “conventional” thinking in which profit and the maximization of shareholder …

Re-Personalising Work And Business: Bill Pollard And Servicemaster's Narrative Of Continuity Through Change, Gordon Preece

Pollard Research Fellowship Papers

This paper addresses the Re-Personalising of Work and Business by Bill Pollard, the long-serving CEO and Chair of the U.S. and global service industry giant ServiceMaster. It uses two frameworks to shed greater light on this story. The first framework is Michael Goldberg’s Narratival Ethics Audit, which explores the role of character/virtue reinforced through connections to story via rituals and traditions. The second framework is the Cambridge UK-based Relationship Foundation’s measure of relational proximity in terms of equality, continuity, multiplexity etc. The mega-theme running through these frameworks, as largely maintained and carried by Pollard and ServiceMaster, is that of the …

Honoring God And Developing People: Servicemaster, Bill Pollard And The Heart Of The Corporation, Darrell Cosden

Pollard Research Fellowship Papers

This study examines the model of faith-business integration developed at ServiceMaster, and relatedly Bill Pollard’s role in developing and implementing it. My argument is that ServiceMaster’s celebrated 4 corporate goals functioned both as a mission statement defining the core of the business, but at the same time also as “philosophy of Christian ministry” infusing their core business with the Christian faith. As used, the 4 goals functioned as a faith-business integration model in its own right, deserving a place alongside other models and thereby deserving reflective analysis and evaluation. To that end, this study examines how the model came to …

Management As A Liberal Art (Summary), C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

In this brief document, Pollard outlines the main contours of Peter Drucker's concept of "management as liberal art." In particular, he notes how management is a spiritual and moral endeavor oriented to the development of the whole person.

Note: Page 6 is missing from the original document.

Various Notes Regarding Peter Drucker, C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

In these handwritten documents, Pollard outlines some of the main lessons he has learned from his decades-long friendship with noted management theorist Peter Drucker.

Speech On The Tides Of Life, C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

For Pollard, the development of people is the key to a future made uncertain by rapid socio-economic change. Proper development, however, is predicated on upholding ServiceMaster's primary objective of honoring God.

Some Ethical Principles For A Follower Of Jesus Christ Seeking To Lead In The Marketplace, C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

In these seven principles Pollard outlines what is required of a disciple of Christ in the marketplace.

Lessons Of Life, C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

In this outline from a speech at the 2016 InterAct/Delta One Workshop in Nashville, TN, Pollard provides thirteen "lessons of life" for the participants to learn from and reflect upon.

Speech At Second Faith At Work Summit, C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

In these brief remarks delivered via video at the second Faith at Work Summit (Dallas, TX), Pollard reflects on his own introduction to the idea that faith and and work can be mutually enriching.

Gleaning As A Transformational Business Model For Solidarity With The Poor And Marginalized, Bruce D. Baker

SPU Works

“Gleaning” refers to the mandate within the Mosaic Law that harvesters should leave behind “gleanings” for the sake of the poor who subsist on the literal and figurative margins of society. Although this biblical mandate is generally neglected and considered irrelevant in modern business practice, it holds powerful lessons to help guide modern businesses into transformational solidarity with the poor and marginalized. This paper interprets the biblical significance of gleaning, to discern how the principles of gleaning, though rooted in ancient agrarian culture, might be applicable to modern business which is generally far removed from agriculture. The exegesis and analysis …

Leadership (Chattanooga, Tn), C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

This is the text of a speech Pollard delivered via video to the 10 Project Video Conference at Covenant College (Chattanooga, TN). In it he addresses the topic of leadership, focusing especially on the need for servant leaders.

The Tides Of Life (Convene Ceo Summit), C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

Delivered at the Convene CEO Summit, this speech asks how Christian business leaders might apply their faith in work settings. In particular, Pollard notes that servant leadership -- while not always overtly Christian -- is oftentimes the primary means of actualizing Christian values in the corporate firm.

The Soul Of Our Work (Article), C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

In this article based on a speech delivered at the Faith at Work Summit, Pollard speaks of how Christians can be "ambassadors for Christ" in their work by adopting people-focused leadership strategies.

Speech At The New Canaan Society, C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

In these brief remarks at a 2016 meeting of the New Canaan Society, Pollard outlines various lessons he learned during many decades spent in the corporate world.

Leadership Transition And Long Term Ministry Sustainability, C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

Speaking to the Thornton Educational Fund Board of Directors, Pollard reflects upon what he considers the fundamentals of servant leadership and considers lessons he has learned from participating in several leadership transitions.

The Truth Of God's Way, C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

In this speech at John Brown University's 2015 commencement exercises, Pollard encourages graduating students to build their future vocational endeavors upon God's truth as well as a commitment to servant leadership.

The Global Marketplace, C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

This document serves as an outline for a speech Pollard gave at Fuller Theological Seminary's De Free Leadership Center (Pasadena, CA). It indicates that the speech centered around three themes: globalization, vocation, and leadership.

Entrepreneurship As A Sign Of Common Grace, Bruce D. Baker

SPU Works

Entrepreneurship benefits society in many ways. It delivers obvious and tangible economic blessings. The spiritual blessings of entrepreneurship are harder to see, and yet these are essential in order to arrive at a more complete understanding of the role entrepreneurship plays within a virtuous society. This paper considers common grace as a helpful lens through which to view the spiritual reality of entrepreneurship and to discern the intangible contributions it provides to economic shalom. Viewed from the perspective of common grace, we can see that entrepreneurship bears witness to the beauty, creativity, power and the responsibility bestowed upon God’s image …

The Soul Of Our Work (Speech), C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

In this edited version of a speech delivered at the Faith at Work Summit, Pollard speaks of how Christians can be "ambassadors for Christ" in their work by adopting people-focused leadership strategies.

The Tides Of Life (Chicago), C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

This speech was originally delivered at a Moody Business Network Luncheon, part of a series of such luncheons organized by The Moody Church in Chicago. In it Pollard posits that servant leadership -- while not always explicitly Christian -- is oftentimes the primary way one actualizes Christian values in the workplace.

To Lead Like Jesus - An Awesome Responsibility, C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

In this address at the Lead Like Jesus Summit (Four Seasons at Las Colinas - Dallas, TX), Pollard reflects on how he worked to apply the way of Jesus while leading a Fortune 500 company.

Outline For Interact And Other Talks And Teaching Lessons - Outline Of The Tides Of Life Chapters 1, 2, And 3, C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

These pages serve as an outline for various talks Pollard gave as well as for the first three chapters of his The Tides of Life: Learning to Lead and Serve as You Navigate the Currents of Life (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014).

Outline For Interact And Other Talks And Teaching Lessons - Outline Of The Tides Of Life Chapters 7, 8, And 9, C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

These pages serve as an outline for various talks Pollard gave as well as for chapters 7-9 of his The Tides of Life: Learning to Lead and Serve as You Navigate the Currents of Life (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014).

Outline For Interact And Other Talks And Teaching Lessons - Outline Of The Tides Of Life Chapters 4, 5, And 6, C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

These pages serve as an outline for various talks Pollard gave as well as for chapters 4-6 of his The Tides of Life: Learning to Lead and Serve as You Navigate the Currents of Life (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014).