THE QUESTION OF PENDULUM BETWEEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND MANAGERIALISM: NEW CHALLENGES IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

The recognition of an ethical and social dimension of business activity is founded on a vast corpus of studies and on different groups of theories, such as instrumental, political, integrative and ethical theories. The latter of these theoretical strands focuses on the ethical requirement that cements the relationship between business and society, and the right way to achieve an equitable society. Departing from these premises, the focus of this work is to propose some reflections on the balance between entrepreneurship and managerialism, interpreted and expressed in the light of Catholic Social Though (CST) whose principles take form in the mission and in the governance of the companies belonging to the project of the Economy of Communion (EoC), who have launched this challenge. Thus, the research question posed as the basis of this study can be summarized in these terms: “How to equilibrate entrepreneurship and managerialism with CST?”. The paper is divided in two main parts. Taking both a deductive and inductive perspectives, the first one presents the theoretical framework, tracing back to the contributions of those scholars who emphasized the importance of subjective variables and the human element in the context of strands of research concerning entrepreneurial and managerial activities. This analysis is carried out having as a point of reference the Social Catholic Thought that highlights the centrality of the individual and ethical and moral values in those who are considered for the management of companies. The second part of the study is centered on the analysis of the Economy of Communion Companies’ experiences and has been developed following a qualitative approach and a case study methodology. Finally we show some concluding remarks about the challenge of striking a balance between managerial and entrepreneurial activities.