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 (Votaw, 1972; Wood, 1991; Carrol, 1994; Treviño & Weaver, 1994; Cassel, 2001; Wood & Lodgson, 2002; Gregg & Stoner, 2008; Freeman et. al., 2010). Different groups of theories - such as instrumental, political, integrative and ethical theories - correspond to different approaches, focused on one of the following aspects of the social context: economics, politics, social integration and ethics (Garriga & Melé, 2004). The latter of these theories focuses on the ethical requirements that cement the relationship between business and society and includes the stakeholder normative theory (Freeman, 1994; Donaldson & Preston, 1995; Freeman & Phillips, 2002), as well as universal rights (UN Global Compact, 1999), sustainable development (WCED, Bruntland Report, 1987) and approaches to the common good (Alford & Naughton, 2002; Catholic Social Thought - John Paul II, 1991; Benedict XVI, 2009; Argandoña, 1998; Melé, 2002; Zamagni, 2007; Gui & Sugden, 2005; Zsonlay, 2011). These last approaches maintain that business has to contribute to the common good, because it is a part of society (Melé, 2002). Starting from this conceptual framework, the focus of this work is to propose some reflections on the balance between entrepreneurship and managerialism, which are two facets lying at the heart of companies’ governance and mission, interpreted and expressed in the light of Caritas and Veritate (Encyclical Letter, Benedetto XVI, 2009) which the Social Doctrine of the Church seeks to realize (Cortright & Naughton, 2002). The Catholic social Thought holds that authentically human social relationships, friendship and sociability, subsidiarity and reciprocity belongs even to the economic activity since the economic sphere of human activity belongs to human and it must be structured ethically (Baldarelli, 2006). Such principles take form in the mission and in the governance of the companies belonging to the project of the Economy of Communion (Economy of Communion Enterprises - EoC) that have launched this challenge (Lubich, 1999, 2000, 2010; Gold, 2004, 2010; Bruni, 2009; Bruni & Uelmen, 2006). But how the EoC companies apply these principles in their daily work? How they change the choices of owners and managers? We believe that the answer to these questions can be given by going to search for the authentic roots and purposes of the values that inspire the entrepreneurial and managerial skills and behaviors which lays on the charisma of communion which characterizes the EoC companies and on the pillars upon which they are founded: dialogue, trust and reciprocity (Bruni, 2006; Argiolas et al., 2010). On 29th May 2011 the EoC project finished 20 years of life. Industrial Poles have been built in various parts of the world – Brazil, Italy-Loppiano (FI), Argentina, Belgium, Portugal and the USA. More than 900 businesses follow the Economy of Communion model. Most are small and medium size, because this dimensional and organizational structure is leaner and flexible and makes the creation and development of relational assets smoother (Gui & Sugden, 2005; Lopez, 2000), but some have more than 100 employees. Thus, the research question posed as the basis of our study can be summarised in these terms: “How to connect entrepreneurship, managerialism, Caritas,Veritate and communion?” Taking both a deductive and inductive perspectives the first part of the paper 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 focuses on company cases (EOC - Economy of Communion Companies) that promote universal Fraternity through economic activity. Specifically, this part -centered on the analysis of the Economy of Communion Companies’ experiences - has been developed following a qualitative approach and a case study methodology (Yin, 1994). The empirical analysis was based on information collected in 2009 through in-depth semi-structured questionnaires, as well as interviews with the entrepreneurs and managers and researcher direct observation during company visits. Finally we show some concluding remarks about the challenge of striking a balance between managerial and entrepreneurial activities and the existence of Caritas and Veritate within them necessary to lead to actual development of those firms.