Stewardship and its Historical Origins
Stewardship involves the duty of humans to take care of property or an organization. In other terms, it gives people the responsibility of conserving the environment to promote the welfare of the current and future generations. Stewardship ensures proper running of operations due to the presence of an individual who controls everything.
The origin of stewardship can be traced to the ancient civilizations. The term was commonly used in South America where plantations owners used slaves to till their land and look after their properties (Mitchell and Diamant 259). During that time, slaves were also known as stewards who played the roles of masters when absent. Moreover, they were responsible for maintaining people’s welfare since they had direct interaction with their ruler. A steward did not own property but rather was faithful to take care of everything on behalf of their master.
The Modern Concept of Stewardship as an Ethical Practice
The modern application of stewardship occurs through ethics. Ethics guide people on how to do the right things that can benefit other people in the upcoming years. For instance, one stewardship action is conserving the environment to promote the well-being of humanity. Additionally, it encourages people to preserve species, show compassion to others, inspire virtues and morals, and limit the depletion of natural resources (Balakrishnan et al. 136). Stewardship comprises of charitable deeds that are done for the betterment of all living things. For this reason, many organizations have implemented the corporate social responsibility to foster the human good.
The Contemporary Significance of Stewardship
In essence, stewardship is an ancient term that was used by plantation owners to refer to their slaves. Traditionally, stewards took care of the owner’s properties and maintained the welfare of individuals. In contemporary society, stewardship involves promoting the well-being of humanity by conserving the environment, showing compassion to people, and preventing the depletion of natural resources.
Works Cited
Balakrishnan, Jaydeep, et al. “Multi-level corporate responsibility: A comparison of Gandhi’s trusteeship with stakeholder and stewardship frameworks.” Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 141, issue 1, 2017, pp. 133-150.
Mitchell, Nora, and Rolf Diamant. “The necessity of stewardship: George Perkins Marsh and the nature of conservation.” The George Wright Forum, vol. 32, no. 3, 2015, pp. 257-265.
