(FORTUNE Magazine) – When senior writer Marc Gunther began work on "God and Business," a July 2001 FORTUNE cover story, he figured that executives who lived their faith and values in corporate America would invariably bump up against the demands of a cruel and unforgiving marketplace. Not always, he discovered. And in his new book, Faith and Fortune: The Quiet Revolution to Reform American Business (Crown, 2004), Gunther takes the argument a step further. After digging into such exemplary firms as Southwest Airlines, UPS, Hewlett-Packard, Starbucks, Herman Miller, and Timberland, he concludes that their success is driven by a broad desire to serve their customers, employees, shareholders, and the common good. What's more, despite the scandals we've read so much about, more companies than ever are taking social responsibility seriously.

Southwest's famously spirited workers, for example, volunteered--volunteered!--to give up some of their pay to keep the airline profitable after Sept. 11, 2001. By paying above-market prices for coffee in the developing world, Starbucks builds loyalty among growers and ensures a continuing supply of quality coffee.

Powerful forces are driving this "quiet revolution." They include the desire of companies to attract and engage their workforce, the rise of baby-boomers into positions of corporate power, the growing clout of activist groups, and the rise of socially responsible investing. If it all sounds too good to be true, consider: Citigroup's CEO Charles Prince is now talking about values, and GE will soon publish its first corporate citizenship report. -- The Editors