Social Entrepreneurship and the Honourable Businessmen: Old Ethical Business Performance in a New Coat?

Publications on business ethics or social entrepreneurship make often references tothe honourable businessman for the definition of ethical values in entrepreneurship. Inreviewing the essence of the contribution, one arrives to the impression that the ethical valuesdetermining entrepreneurial behaviour are only presented in a new coat. For this reason the twotypes of entrepreneurs have been compared to analyse whether the ethical values have changedin its meaning as guidelines to conduct entrepreneurship. Design/methodology/approach: The objectives of the paper were achieved by a qualitativecontent analysis of 25 different sources in the literature dealing with corporate socialresponsibility, social entrepreneurship and the honourable businessman. The method employedwas based on a qualitative research method of Mayring. Findings: The prime difference can be found in the constitutional relationship between theentrepreneur and society. Whereas the honourable businessman performs a business to build upa personal fortune and to redistribute some of it later in the form of donations, the socialentrepreneur starts to seek more a mutual benefit between the business and itself. However,both types of entrepreneurs seek long-term business relationships with their business partners. Research/practical implications: The image of an honourable businessman which has beenpartly transferred to a social entrepreneur could set new standards within entrepreneurialmarketing to promote entrepreneurial interest and intentions. As society values sustainabilityand ethical standards highly, the image of the honourable businessman could set guiding marksfor entrepreneurship during start-up as well as setting up sustainable business relationships. Originality/value: The main value of the study is the systematic evaluation of ethical values inas determinants of entrepreneurial behaviour in a qualitative holistic approach.