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Who is the Good Entrepreneur? An Exploration within the Catholic Social Tradition

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Abstract

Entrepreneurship is a critical need in society, and an entrepreneur's life can be a life wonderfully lived. However, most of the literature examining entrepreneurship takes an overly narrow financial viewpoint when examining entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial success. Our paper surveys the current entrepreneurial literature on what constitutes successful entrepreneurship. We then engage key conceptual ideas within the Catholic social tradition to analyze what we see as an undeveloped notion of success. We then move to construct a richer notion of success through the framework of virtue.

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Cornwall, J.R., Naughton, M.J. Who is the Good Entrepreneur? An Exploration within the Catholic Social Tradition. Journal of Business Ethics 44, 61–75 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023294626341

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