The Enron scandal was a case study in greed. Share prices skyrocketed three years in a row - climbing 40, 60 and 90 percent - then plunged 99 percent, dragging the entire market to a new low. Business Ethics editor Marjorie Kelly warns that we've allowed corporations the "divine right" to pursue their own self-interests. She calls for a new system of accounting - one that would show how businesses are also serving the environment and the community. In her book, The Divine Right of Capital, praised by both consumer advocates and economists at the World Bank, she argues that corporations act like feudal lords and use the workforce and our natural resources as they see fit. Kelly wants them to be accountable to a higher set of values. She also believes that women have an important role to play in changing the corporation and defining both its social and spiritual roles.

Andrews: Why have we gotten caught up in this cycle of greed?

Kelly: Publicly held and traded corporations are only required to measure their success by a single standard - share price. Their wealth flows to a small financial elite who function like an aristocracy and care only about increasing their own profits.

In employee-owned companies, however, the scenario is very different. The Greystone Bakery was started by Zen monks in Yonkers, New York. They make the brownies that go into Ben and Jerry's ice cream, and they also have a policy of open hiring. A homeless person can show up on Wednesday and start training the next morning. This is a five million dollar company and it makes a profit, yet one of its aims is to teach people new skills and help them move on to better jobs.

Here's another example. A firm called Equal Exchange decided to support coffee growers in the Third World. If world prices collapsed and beans could be bought for 50 cents a pound, the firm will continue to pay five dollars a pound. This would allow the farmers in Chiapas to plan ahead, keep planting and put a roof over the heads of their families.

We need to rethink the purpose of the corporation and its role in the community. Continually rising profits aren't the most important thing. We can't be on auto-pilot and let corporate values run the world. Maybe our goals should include feeding the hungry. Women, who are naturally more oriented toward relationships, can take the lead here and help redefine corporate goals.

Andrews: What about the increasing pressure in corporations to work longer hours? Americans are now putting in an extra 10 or 20 hours each week - this is a tremendous burden on women who have families.

Kelly: You're right. Companies need to start asking, "How can we give more freedom to our workers?"

BNA Inc. is an employee-owned publishing firm that's been tapped as one of the best places to work in the United States. All employees are on flex-time - they can work at home, set their own hours and do the job at their own pace. This system works so well, the company has had a number of offers to be bought out at triple their share price. But the employees (who also make the management decisions) have said, "No. We'd rather have a more livable schedule."

Andrews: Historically, women have been wary of relinquishing their autonomy to a cash economy. In the eighteenth century, the wives of miners protested when the company wanted to pay the men in silver. They preferred the barter system, where each family got a house, food and certain goods in return for their labor. This allowed them more control over the household budget.

Kelly: This is an interesting anecdote because it shows how women got disenfranchised. Household work, the work of mothering and of friendship - none of these things have monetary value now. If I clean my house, that labor doesn't count. If I hire someone to do it, it shows up in the GDP as a net gain.

Andrews: In the 1970s, American women fought to break through the glass ceiling and get into the top echelons of management. European women fought for part-time work that allowed them time to tend their homes and raise their families. I often wonder who made the better choice?

Kelly: In America, we're essentially playing the boys' games of "Who can make the most?" and "Who's the richest?" even though we understand that life is about other things, like family, joy, taking care of the body and having quiet time for self-renewal. Women need to affirm these values and reclaim the economy.

Andrews: How can we start to do that?

Kelly: The most important thing we need is a new way of looking at the problem. By that, I mean what we want the corporation to be and what values we want it to uphold. This is where women have a lot to offer. You need to trust your voice. When you're talking with a colleague, notice any lulls in the conversation. Be aware when there's something you're not saying. Don't be afraid to ask, "Are we doing the right thing?" Women can be - and often are - the watchdogs in a corporation.

Andrews: Just as they were in Enron. In what other ways can women encourage businesses to work for the common good?

Kelly: First, by changing state laws so the directors' duties are broader and so that companies must consider more than the shareholder's interests. We must start requiring companies to report on how well they perform socially and environmentally.

At present, only shareholders vote on key management decisions. Why not have employees represented on the board? We also need stronger penalties for the companies that harm the public good either by polluting or damaging the local economy.

Andrews: What if your company asks you to do something you feel is wrong?

Kelly: A major company recently distributed a contract to all employees along with their paycheck. The document basically said, "We agree never to sue this company for any reason." The fact that the document came with the payroll implied this is a term of your employment.

A friend of mine signed this and was later laid off. It was a clear case of age discrimination and she hasn't sued. We need to stop acting like sheep and learn how to protect our own livelihood.

Younger people can lead here. They can take a stand because they have more financial flexibility.

Andrews: You're talking about the courage to act.

Kelly: That, and good communication. If you get wind of a buy-out, organize your co-workers. Say to the bidders, "You can buy the company, but you can't buy us." That happened with Chiat/Day advertising agency in London. The creative staff took their clients with them and started a new agency called St. Luke's.

Andrews: I notice the new, more spiritual name indicating the transformation of the business and its emphasis on higher values. Most of us dream of making the world a better place, yet we also have to pay the mortgage. Can we address our material and spiritual needs in a single breath? For example, coins originally had pictures of the gods engraved on them. They were viewed as talismans of good fortune and representatives of good faith. How can we reclaim a view of money as a sacred element in our lives?

Kelly: Money is a kind of a talisman - when it comes to you, you can make anything you choose from it. It's like a wish that's magically granted, and the first question is, "What are you going to do with it?" Of course we need to be aware that money has its own rules, and these must be heeded. But how different would our lives be if we could get rid of our fear of scarcity and think of its potential to unite us?

We mistakenly believe that if we pile up enough money we'll be safe forever. Yet in that pursuit, we end up making everyone else unsafe. What do you think the CEO of Enron was trying to do? He was trying to shore up his own domain and in the process, he destabilized the entire stock market. This notion that we can exist apart from community, insulating ourselves with money, is sad and also very dangerous.

Andrews: What attitude helps us keep the right perspective?

Kelly: Sometimes you have to concentrate on earning money - and that's part of spiritual maturity. But the more we align our spiritual calling and our ability to support ourselves, the more our relationships prosper and the world around us comes into alignment. I believe that the soul of the world speaks to us and calls us to our true vocation, saying, "You are needed right here in this spot." When we are in that place, and doing the right work, everyone is nourished.

For more information, go to www.divinerightofcapital.org or www.business-ethics.com.