ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the classic conceptions of entrepreneurship as well as more recent ones found in business and management literature. The central quality of entrepreneurship derives from the literal meaning of the word—entreprendre in French, unternehmen in German—which simply means to undertake or to get things done. Social entrepreneurship is commonly described as pursuing a social mission, creating social value, or tackling social problems in an innovative fashion or an entrepreneurial way. Moving from empirical research to the ethical theorizing of entrepreneurship, the chapter recalls the central implication of the several features of entrepreneurship. The chapter takes up some of the empirical literature on the ethics of entrepreneurial decision-making. It offers a synoptic account of several core elements in any kind of entrepreneurial activity. The chapter considers three theoretical approaches to the ethics of entrepreneurship: pragmatism, virtue ethics, and value pluralism.
