Are Religious Entrepreneurs

Social Entrepreneurs?
Randy M. Ataide
Professor of Entrepreneurship
Fermanian School of Business
Point Loma Nazarene University
San Diego, Ca. 92106 USA
RandyAtaide@pointloma.edu
Are Religious Entrepreneurs Social Entrepreneurs?

Outline of Presentation
1.Overview of problem
2.Definitional frameworks
3. Comparison of religious and social
ventures
4. Points of connections
5. Conclusions
6. Recommendations
7. Questions
1.
Are Religious Entrepreneurs Social Entrepreneurs?

Overview of Problem

vIs “Everyone really a Changemaker?

(Drayton)
v“If everyone were an entrepreneur
society would be a terrible mess.”
(Bornstein)
vHow broad should the definitional
boundaries of social entrepreneurship
be? (Martin & Osberg)
vAre personal values of importance?
Are Religious Entrepreneurs Social Entrepreneurs?

Overview of Problem
vLimitations of contemporary research
– “containment, marginalization &
suspicion” (Zelinsky)
v“Entrepreneurship literature suggests
that value structures may form an
important construct…(but) their
magnitude and overall importance is
still relatively unknown.” (Dodd and
Seaman)
vPersonal values, faith or religion and
entrepreneurship is a “thorny and
unresolved issue.” ( Dodd and
Are Religious Entrepreneurs Social Entrepreneurs?

Overview of Problem

v“Religious leaders speak so

inadequately on business it is painful
to listen to them.” (Goossen)
v“An immense tent of socially beneficial
activities…that threatens the kernel of
true social entrepreneurship.” (Martin
and Osberg)
v“Definitions between normal and social
entrepreneurs should not be based on
 Are Religious Entrepreneurs Social Entrepreneurs?

A Definitional Framework #1
vAn unjust equilibrium for a weak human
segment.
vA social value proposition with an
entrepreneurial basis.
vA new equilibrium proposed that
alleviates the unjust equilibrium.
vA hope for a broader impact for the
value proposition.
(Martin & Osberg)
Are Religious Entrepreneurs Social Entrepreneurs?

A Definitional Framework #2

vAdvance a social mission.

vApply innovative processes and
technologies.
vHave a measurable & scalable impact.
vIntegrate financial accountability
(Change Fusion Network
Matrix)
 Are Religious Entrepreneurs Social Entrepreneurs?

Comparison of Social & Religious

Entrepreneurs
Water Partners Int’l. Healing Waters Int’l.
U.S. Based NPF U.S. Based NPF
Founded 1990 Founded 1999
Community water supplies Community water
supplies
“Water partnership” initiative “H2O Oath”
initiative
Serves developing countries Serves
developing countries
Works with local partners Works with local
partners
 Are Religious Entrepreneurs Social Entrepreneurs?

Comparison of Social & Religious

Entrepreneurs
Dean’s Beans. Equal Exchange.
U.S. Mass. Based co-op U.S. Mass. Based
co-op
Founded 1993 Founded 1986
Certified Fair Trade Certified Fair Trade
Organic products Organic products
Small growers only Small growers only
Human rights agenda Human rights agenda
Fully integrated production Fully integrated
production
Expanded food product line Expanded food
product line
 Are Religious Entrepreneurs Social Entrepreneurs?

Comparison of Social & Religious

Entrepreneurs
Educate! Human Factor
Academy
U.S. Based NPF U.S. Based NPF
Founded 2002 Founded 1992
African leadership training African
leadership training
Ugandan focus Ghana focus
Dispersed education model Centralized
education model
University connection University
Are Religious Entrepreneurs Social Entrepreneurs?

Points of Connection
vBoth seek to solve similar intractable
problems
vBoth seek multiple resource streams
vBoth are dynamic and highly
adaptable
vBoth seek partnerships and alliances
vBoth seek sustainability
vBoth reflect a distinct personal or
collective worldview
vBoth shape and are shaped by society
vBoth suffer from definitional
Are Religious Entrepreneurs Social Entrepreneurs?

Conclusion
“Culture is an important and
complex construct. Likewise,
entrepreneurship captures a wide
spectrum of activities and is
multifaceted. The addition of social
institutions to the repertoire of cultural
icons is a step forward in behavioral
research on the nexus of culture and
entrepreneurship.”
Gerard and Zahra, 2007
Are Religious Entrepreneurs Social Entrepreneurs?

Conclusion
“It (religion) supports power
structures, gives meaning and shape to
a society’s ethical structures, rewards
and punishes certain kinds of behavior:
providing norms for social action…
religion (also) explains and justifies
social institutions and social roles.”
Dodd and Seaman, 1998
Are Religious Entrepreneurs Social Entrepreneurs?

Conclusion
“In societies where religion plays a
significant role, personal motivation is
inextricably linked to the social
entrepreneurial activities of the
religious entrepreneur. What we have is
that the religious worldview has moved
beyond traditional functions, methods
and models and ironically this
adaptation may have actually occurred
prior to the rise of contemporary social
entrepreneurship.”
Ataide, 2009
Are Religious Entrepreneurs Social Entrepreneurs?

Recommendations
1.Discern collaborative opportunities
including hybrids, joint ventures,
alliances and associations.
2.Study and seek to maximize mutually
beneficial opportunity streams .
3.Engagement between the business
schools and religious
entrepreneurship to study the
blurring of sectors.
Are Religious Entrepreneurs Social Entrepreneurs?

Recommendations

4. Religious entrepreneurs should

participate in the global social
entrepreneurship dialogue.
5. Further refine the concept of religious
entrepreneurship.
Are Religious Entrepreneurs Social Entrepreneurs?

Questions