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The Impact of Moral Intensity and Desire for Control on Scaling Decisions in Social Entrepreneurship

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Abstract

While research has focused on why certain entrepreneurs elect to create innovative solutions to social problems, very little is known about why some social entrepreneurs choose to scale their solutions while others do not. Research on scaling has generally focused on organizational characteristics often overlooking factors at the individual level that may affect scaling decisions. Drawing on the multidimensional construct of moral intensity, we propose a theoretical model of ethical decision making to explain why a social entrepreneur’s perception of moral intensity of the social problem, coupled with their personal desire for control, can significantly influence scaling decisions. Specifically, we propose that higher levels of perceived moral intensity will positively influence the likelihood of scaling through open as opposed to closed modes in order to achieve greater speed and scope of social impact. However, we also propose this effect will be negatively moderated by a social entrepreneur’s higher levels of desire for control. Our model has implications for research and practice at the interface of ethics and social entrepreneurship.

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Notes

  1. While research in entrepreneurship initially focused on individual level factors such as traits and predispositions, more recent research at the individual level has also focused on more malleable differences in areas such as cognition (Mitchell et al. 2002).

  2. Because of their relatively small size, rats are able to walk over land mines without activating them.

  3. Social entrepreneurs often face resource constraints and limited financial capital for scaling (Santos 2012).

  4. We thank an anonymous reviewer for drawing our attention to the effects of news and media reports.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Farmer School of Business, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA

    Brett R. Smith

  2. Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto, Canada

    Geoffrey M. Kistruck

  3. Altis, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy

    Benedetto Cannatelli

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  1. Brett R. Smith
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  2. Geoffrey M. Kistruck
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  3. Benedetto Cannatelli
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Correspondence to Brett R. Smith.

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Smith, B.R., Kistruck, G.M. & Cannatelli, B. The Impact of Moral Intensity and Desire for Control on Scaling Decisions in Social Entrepreneurship. J Bus Ethics 133, 677–689 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2447-6

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