
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, August 1, 1994                   TAG: 9408010033
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WORKING ON OUR WORK ETHIC

THE CONCEPT of the "work ethic" gained currency from the writings of pioneering sociologist Max Weber. In "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism," published in German in 1905 and in English in 1930, he contended that the rise of Protestantism was more than simply coincidental with the spread of capitalism. Protestantism, by which Weber meant Calvinism, helped spur the capitalist spirit by providing a religious underpinning for the notion that work is inherently good.

On the surface, the classical Calvinist doctrine of predestination would seem to argue against a compulsion to work and accumulate wealth. If God's omniscience is too great for mere humans to know who among them is saved or even the criteria for election, why bother? Yet, in fact, Weber argued, insecurities fostered by this doctrine bred in its adherents a desire to seek whatever signs they could of God's will for them. One gauge was the material prosperity that hard work could bring.

Weber's thesis from the beginning was controversial. Today, he is read less as an economic historian than as an insightful student of human nature - and for inspiring the spread of a term that today has become almost a cliche.

"Work ethic" is employed by sportswriters describing a baseball player who takes extra batting practice. By pundits to bemoan (if the "work ethic" is said to be vanishing) or find comfort in (if it is said to be reappearing) contemporary society. And by economic-development officials to tout their locales as good sites for new factories.

In the quest for businesses, as noted in a "Peril and Promise" story in Sunday's newspaper, one competitive advantage for the Roanoke region is often said to be the work ethic of its inhabitants.

A measure of skepticism is in order. Sometimes, the phrase has been used to mean non-union, or as an ethnic generalization. Sometimes, the "work ethic" card is played when more measurable evidence of a location's suitability is lacking. Many people in many places have a strong work ethic; in trying to attract new industry, it also helps to have adequate infrastructure and available land.

Still, the term is not devoid of meaning. Nor is it farfetched to say that a strong work ethic is, for reasons of history and culture, among the good things that Western Virginia can offer prospective employers.

On the one hand, our region's history isn't full of bitter labor-management strife. On the other hand, neither is it full of deferential, plantation-like labor. One result is a culture that generally sees work as something to take pride in, both as it contributes to a larger enterprise and as it reflects on the worker's sense of self-worth.

But because culture counts (as Weber argued), it follows that a strong work ethic is not for workers alone to deliver. On local employers' ability to adopt a quality-management culture that prizes the value of every employee's work, our region's prosperity will likely depend.

Some businesses still may confuse a strong work ethic with low pay and long hours, producing large quantities of things. Some still may avoid workers who assume that thinking for themselves is part of doing good work.

But that sort of employer is on the endangered-species list anyway, ripe for extinction at the hands of competitors who know better, who know that expressing one's self in work is part of taking pride in it. Combine employers who know better with employees who work hard and smart, and Western Virginia will be a thriving place.

by CNB