Humane Entrepreneurship Model: Does morality of entrepreneurs matter?

ABSTRACT

What is the relationship between morality and entrepreneurship? Previous research suggests that (a) morality is a set of tools for promoting cooperation (morality-as-cooperation [MAC]), and (b) entrepreneurs succeed in part by fostering cooperation in their business. We argue that MAC is able to explain why moral entrepreneurs are more successful than immoral entrepreneurs—because they are better able to solve problems of cooperation. We provide evidence of the seven MAC principles at work in business. Further, we propose a future research using the Humane Entrepreneurship Model should have to incorporate Cooperative Orientation and the MAC Questionnaire should be used to assess morality in entrepreneurship.

KEYWORDS:

• Morality-as-cooperation
• humane entrepreneurship
• culture

Notes

¹ While, for example, MFT names three domains, focused on group, deference, and fairness.

² As Curry et al. (2019b) suggested, people’s (especially entrepreneurs’) obligations to the environment and other species may be treated as by-products of our moral intuitions.