By PHILLIP STAHLE
Gordon B. Hinckley, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was honored as the 1998 International Executive of the Year by the Marriott School of Management Friday night.
In his address, President Hinckley spoke about how the temporal side of the church organization exists solely to provide for the spiritual needs of the world.
“I know, when all is said and done, that the vast temporal undertakings with which we are involved are necessary adjuncts to the great spiritual mission which we have to perform,” President Hinckley said.
The LDS Church is involved in many different branches of operation. Most of these private entities with which the church is involved are outgrowths of early pioneer establishments.
Bonneville International, Deseret News Publishing Company, Deseret Book, Zions Securities, and Beneficial Life Insurance were only a few of the companies mentioned by name in Hinckley’s remarks, and are only a handful of the companies with which the church is involved.
All these entities are profit-driven and survive inside saturated and competitive markets. Ten percent of the profits from these companies are given to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ foundation, President Hinckley said.
President Hinckley called the LDS Church a vast enterprise, whose reach extends across the earth and which has become a great business institution.
“This, I submit, is one of the great success stories of all time. It is his (Christ’s) work and his story, and tonight’s recognition should go to him,” President Hinckley said emotionally.
Public and church dignitaries, faculty, alumni and graduate students of the Marriott School attended the closed event. Reactions to President Hinckley’s address were positive.
“The second thing he was trying to say, and he said it quite well, was that whatever we do, we need to do well; the temporal in addition to the spiritual,” Mark Willis, CEO and publisher of Times-Mirror and the Los Angeles Times, said.
The award is the most prestigious award given by the School of Management. Established in 1974, it annually honors outstanding executives from the public or private sector who demonstrate exceptional leadership and high moral and ethical standards.
