As Bluffton University's Howard Raid professor of business, Dr. George Lehman strives to develop research projects that link his interests in entrepreneurship and innovation with case studies of people and business in real world locales.
"I take my role as the Bluffton University Howard Raid professor of business very seriously including my responsibility to develop and present research that can contribute to public understanding of business and its relationship to community life."
To honor the legacy of Howard Raid, a pioneering Mennonite entrepreneur and long-time business professor at Bluffton, Lehman explores research questions that link business topics with Mennonite interests and experiences. This year, Lehman focused his research and the annual Howard Raid lecture on an exploration of changing business practices among the Amish of Adams County, Indiana.
"In Adams County, the evidence points to a pattern of relatively independent family businesses that exist within a large and growing Amish population. By contrast, in Holmes County, Ohio, there is a well-established pattern of a more collaborative Amish enterprise that serves both Amish and English populations; the Amish furniture industry is one example."
A Berne, Ind. native, Lehman maintains a keen interest in his home community and decided to test his observation that there were significant differences in business practice among the Adams County Amish when compared with other areas of the settlement like Holmes County, Ohio, and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
In his Friday Colloquium presentation on Jan. 15, Lehman reviewed a number of factors that may contribute to this different approach to business practice. In particular, he noted rapid population growth in the Adams County community as a significant development that has contributed to an occupational specialization with challenging consequences.
Lehman was able to document that in recent years, the largest percentage of Adams County Amish have been employed in travelling construction crews that travel to surrounding states and even eastern Pennsylvania to provide specialty services like framing both to individual families and to larger organizations during the real estate boom. The recent economic downturn has had a negative impact on this preferred business practice.
"In addition to being vulnerable to economic downturns the focus of travelling construction crews has negatively impacted the close family and community ties that are so important to the Amish," said Lehman. "It is difficult for a family that has a few animals to have a family chore time if the father leaves home at 5 a.m. and does not return until 9 p.m."
Lehman anticipates a challenging future for the Adams County Amish if they stay wedded to their established pattern of family businesses without linkages to other businesses or specialization in construction trades.
"Especially in a situation where there is continued population pressure and a challenging economy, increased collaboration in business practice will be crucial for the Amish in Adams County to build a more sustainable local economy," said Lehman. "It will be intriguing to see how this community responds to the challenges of the precipitous downturn in construction activity and whether this translates into new models of business practice."
Lehman sees some evidence of movement toward collaborative, community based businesses. "The Adams County Flower and Produce Auction started with 14 people of whom half are Amish and half are not. This type of development has the potential to create more sustainable prosperity across the Amish community," said Lehman.
The Howard Raid Chair in Business title and annual lecture honors the significant contributions of Dr. Howard Raid, professor of economics and business at Bluffton for 32 years. Bluffton University's Friday Colloquium series provides faculty members with an opportunity to share their research and receive feedback from a group of their peers.
