Business Ethics in the Bible

Gen. 27--30: So, after cheating his brother Esau out of his birthright, Jacob goes to Haran (Paddan-aram in Gen. 28 -- is that the same?) and spends a little time w/his uncle Laban.

Gen. 28:20--22 (NRSV, quoted via http://crosswalk.com):

20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21 so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, 22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one-tenth to you."

Uncle Laban cheats Jacob by giving him his daughter Leah in return for seven years' service (Jacob wanted and "contracted for" Rachel). So, Jacob has to work seven MORE years to get Rachel. Then, Laban cheats him again by agreeing to give him all the black and speckled sheeps from his (Laban's flock), but Laban secretly takes them out before Jacob gets a chance to inspect them, so Jacob must stay longer and use a trick to get the flocks to produce speckled sheep. Then, he uses the same trick to make his sheep stronger than Laban's.

Gen. 30:37--43:

37 Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the rods. 38 He set the rods that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, 39 the flocks bred in front of the rods, and so the flocks produced young that were striped, speckled, and spotted. 40 Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and the completely black animals in the flock of Laban; and he put his own droves apart, and did not put them with Laban's flock. 41 Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob laid the rods in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the rods, 42 but for the feebler of the flock he did not lay them there; so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's. 43 Thus the man grew exceedingly rich, and had large flocks, and male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys.

So, this is the man blessed by God?

Is this behavior considered good?

Is this good only because his uncle Laban is a worse cheater, and this is what Jacob must do to get ahead? In a world of sharp practices, the Godly man must have sharper practices in order to give 10% to God?

What does that say about people who advance their careers by golfing w/the right people? Is that The Way? Forget technical expertise, the bible says you need to cheat?

What about "do not be conformed to this world" (Rom. 12:2)? Is that in regards to something else (Christian/Jewish relations, sexual morality), and therefore not relevant?

Why is fairness emphasized so strongly in our upbringing, if it only interferes w/our ability to cheat each other? Is the child whose parents emphasize "sustainable cheating" at an advantage? ("Sustainable cheating" is like "sustainable forestry" -- you cheat in such a way that you can do it all your life, rather than poisoning your relationships w/people beyond repair or using up friends faster than you can make new ones.)

More specifically, is the Bible telling me I should really forget about knowing everything there is to know about enterprise Java development (or otherwise improving my mad technical skillz), and instead just concentrate on office politics?

Hmmm???