Paved with good intentions: Moral disengagement and social entrepreneurship

Abstract

Social entrepreneurship has a deservedly well-regarded reputation in the literature. Given the constraints and problems of modern society we are looking for social entrepreneurs to solve problems that government will not or cannot solve more now than ever. However, there is also a darker side to social entrepreneurs. In effect, social entrepreneurs become so involved in fixing problems that they justify behaviors that could be viewed as unethical. In essence, they do the “wrong thing for the right reason.” Using moral disengagement theory, we develop a typology to discuss issues related to social entrepreneurship.