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Temporality and Meaningful Entrepreneurship

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Abstract

Temporality is an under-researched area in entrepreneurship and business ethics, even though entrepreneurs are particularly affected by a fast-paced work environment. How do they position themselves in relation to the acceleration of time in order to construct meaning for their activity? We draw on fifty-four semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs to outline the different ways in which they perceive a faster pace of work. We show how the meaning they give to their activity varies according to whether they accept or resist the acceleration of time: (1) By claiming to accept a high work rate, entrepreneurs may see work as a way of keeping busy, having fun, forgetting, or achieving efficiency; (2) by asserting that they resist the acceleration of time, they view work as a way of setting ethical goals, doing their job better, experiencing unexpected encounters, or being creative. These two different perspectives on time and meaning are not incompatible: It is possible that achieving a harmonic balance between periods of acceleration and deceleration of time may foster the construction of meaningful entrepreneurship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Organization Studies & Ethics Department, Audencia Business School, 8 Route de la Jonelière, Nantes, France

    Sandrine Frémeaux

  2. Chaire Sens & Travail, Icam Lille, Lille, France

    François Henry

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  1. Sandrine Frémeaux
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Correspondence to Sandrine Frémeaux.

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Frémeaux, S., Henry, F. Temporality and Meaningful Entrepreneurship. J Bus Ethics 188, 725–739 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-023-05502-0

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