This research focuses on the influence of COVID-19 on entrepreneurs' psychological well-being in China. A start-up's performance is believed to play an important moderating role. This study uses 2 years of tracking data of 303 entrepreneurs from Shandong Providence, China. Based on conservation of resources theory, this study found that COVID-19 will significantly decrease entrepreneurs' PWB. A start-up's past performance will enhance the negative influence of COVID-19 on entrepreneurs' PWB. This study contributes to the literature on entrepreneurship, COR, and PWB. (...) The findings can also guide entrepreneurs to maintain well-being during the pandemic and post-pandemic era. (shrink)

To commemorate 40 years since the founding of the Journal of Business Ethics, the editors in chief of the journal have invited the editors to provide commentaries on the future of business ethics. This essay comprises a selection of commentaries aimed at creating dialogue around the theme Business versus Ethics?. The authors of these commentaries seek to transcend the age-old separation fallacy :409–421, 1994) that juxtaposes business and ethics/society, posing a forced choice or trade off. Providing a contemporary take on (...) the classical question “if it’s legal is it ethical?”, David Hess explores the role of the law in promoting or hindering stakeholder-oriented purpose and governance structure. Jeffrey Harrison encourages scholars to move beyond the presupposition that businesses are either strategic or ethical and explore important questions at the intersection of strategy and ethics. The proposition that business models might be inherently ethical or inherently unethical in their design is developed by Sheila Killian, who examines business systems, their morality, and who they serve. However, the conundrum that entrepreneurs are either lauded for their self-belief and risk-taking, or loathed for their self-belief and risk-taking, is discussed by M. Tina Dacin and Julia Roloff using the metaphor of taboos and totems. These commentaries seek to explore positions that advocate multiplicity and tensions in which business ethics is not either/or but both. (shrink)

Studies regarding rural entrepreneurs in developing countries and, specifically, their well-being have not been sufficiently developed in the literature. The present study was an attempt to fill this gap and to examine important antecedents and outcomes associated with entrepreneurial well-being among a sample of 102 Iranian rural entrepreneurs. This research established a theoretical research model that highlighted the relationships among job fit, entrepreneurial passion, well-being, and persistence. The results of structural equation modeling supported the hypothesized model. In particular, the results (...) indicated that higher job fit was associated with higher levels of entrepreneurial well-being through an entrepreneurial passion mechanism. Moreover, the results supported the hypothesized serial mediating effect. In other words, a high level of job fit enhances entrepreneurial persistence through a high level of entrepreneurial passion and well-being. This study provides significant input to policymakers and practitioners in their efforts to promote the antecedents and outcomes of well-being among rural entrepreneurs. (shrink)

As a rapidly growing field of study, social entrepreneurship is increasingly receiving attention from scholars and practitioners because social ventures have the potential to contribute to economic growth and social innovation. Surprisingly, the role of leadership in social venture growth has received very limited attention. One reason for this omission may be that entrepreneurship and leadership evolved as separate domains. Applying leadership theory to social ventures can help scholars and managers understand how social entrepreneurs can manage the environmental risks, dual (...) mission, and legitimacy issues of social ventures. Our goal for this conceptual paper is to describe how social entrepreneurs can align employees with the seemingly inconsistent goals of social and economic value creation to improve venture performance. We do so by concentrating on a leadership style applicable to their dual mission—servant leadership. Drawing from theoretical underpinnings and examples from single case studies, we offer a research framework and related propositions that delineate how servant leadership style affects social venture performance through the perception of work meaningfulness, well-being, and job engagement. We contribute to theory building by uncovering how social entrepreneurs can share their personal passions, values, and obligations with their employees and inspire them to meet their dual mission, paying attention to the context of social ventures and the attributes of the employees they attract. We also discuss theoretical and practical implications for social entrepreneurship and offer future research directions. (shrink)

Although empirical evidence has shown that socially responsible human resource management practices positively influence employees’ outcomes, knowledge on the social impact of SRHRM practices on employee well-being has been limited. Drawing upon the social information processing theory and attribution theory, we investigate whether, how, and when SRHRM practices increase the well-being of employees. Using multiphase and multilevel data from 474 employees in 50 companies, we find that SRHRM practices positively predict employee well-being and that the relationship is mediated by employees’ (...) perspective-taking. Furthermore, substantive attributions strengthen the positive relationship between SRHRM practices and perspective-taking of employees, whereas symbolic attributions weaken this relationship. We also find that substantive attributions positively moderate the indirect effect of SRHRM practices on employee well-being through perspective-taking, whereas symbolic attributions negatively moderate this indirect effect. Our study contributes to the understanding of the complex effect that SRHRM has on employee well-being. (shrink)

This article examines the relationship between women entrepreneurs’ job autonomy and work–life balance, with a particular focus on how this relationship might be augmented by environments that discriminate against women, whether socio-economically, institutionally, or culturally. Multisource data pertaining to 5334 women entrepreneurs from 37 countries indicate that their sense of job autonomy increases the likelihood that they feel satisfied with their ability to balance the needs of their work with those of their personal life. This process is particularly prominent when (...) they operate in countries characterized by discriminatory socio-economic and institutional conditions, though a mitigating instead of invigorating effect arises in culturally discriminatory settings. For business ethics scholars and practitioners, these findings indicate how the extent to which women entrepreneurs, seeking to combine professional and private responsibilities, derive benefits from initiatives aimed at enhancing their job-related freedom critically depends on whether they operate in adverse external environments. (shrink)