The role of Islamic ethics in shaping passion for social innovation

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to study the role of ethics in the social innovation process and its effect on entrepreneurial passion. It explores the factors that encourage social entrepreneurs to innovate by examining the concepts of harmonious and obsessive passion and ethics. Design/methodology/approach The database consists of 97 entrepreneurs who benefited from the services offered by the support organizations for social entrepreneurs. The data are analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings The results show that Islamic ethics has a positive effect on social innovation. This effect can be further amplified by harmonious passion (HP). Such passion certainly strengthens social entrepreneurs throughout the innovation process and consolidates the implementation phase of their projects. Practical implications This study highlights the importance of ethics in the process of social innovation. Ethics acts directly or through HP to stimulate social innovation. This passion enables taking actions and favors the creation of innovative social projects. Originality/value These findings add value to the previous literature by introducing ethics into the entrepreneurial passion theory and exploring new factors that promote social innovation.

An Exploratory Study on Business Ethics Practices Among Accredited Social Enterprises in Malaysia

“…Ethics in general can be described as the set of moral conceptions and rules of conduct of the society (Boussema & Belkacem, 2022) and this issue is often overlooked particularly in the nature of social enterprises and must be problematized (Chell et al, 2016). In fact, ethics is a predecessor of social innovation (Boussema & Belkacem, 2022). In addition, business ethics is one of the newest and fastest-growing scientific areas (Stavrova, 2020).…”

“…They need to avoid making normative pronouncements and guidelines must be grounded in practitioners' experiences and informed by reflecting on in-depth conversations with them. However, the progress made in social entrepreneurship research has not been matched by a robust analysis from the ethics perspective (Cornelius et al, 2008) and little attention is given to the study of the role of values and ethics in stimulating passion for innovation among social entrepreneurs (Boussema & Belkacem, 2022). Sengupta & Lehtimäki (2022) argued that ethics should be studied by looking at the relational practices that are common among social entrepreneurs.…”

“…Moreover, values and ethics can have positive effects on entrepreneurial passion. In fact, entrepreneurial attributes and qualities of young entrepreneurs can be promoted by ethics (Boussema & Belkacem, 2022). Furthermore, the importance of the ethical factor in the development of social entrepreneurs' intentions can be better conceived by studying its effect as a function of the projects created by the sector of activity (Boussema & Belkacem, 2022).…”

“…In fact, entrepreneurial attributes and qualities of young entrepreneurs can be promoted by ethics (Boussema & Belkacem, 2022). Furthermore, the importance of the ethical factor in the development of social entrepreneurs' intentions can be better conceived by studying its effect as a function of the projects created by the sector of activity (Boussema & Belkacem, 2022). An introduction of ethics into the theory of entrepreneurial passion is indeed inevitable because of its unique contribution to knowledge, motivation, and behavior (Boussema & Belkacem, 2022).…”

The social structures of entrepreneurial embeddedness: the influence of market, reciprocity and redistribution

“…In addition, the creation of opportunities and the need for survival are among the reasons that affect the investigated pastors’ behaviors. Further, Boussema and Belkacem (2022) investigated the factors that encourage social entrepreneurs to innovate in Islamic communities.…”