Exploring Entrepreneurship through the Lens of Spirituality

Abstract

A two-stage research project utilizing grounded theory was conducted with 134 entrepreneurs to better understand their motivational factors. Utilizing spiritual concepts, researchers were able to discover a deeper understanding of the entrepreneurs. Initially, three distinct modalities of entrepreneurs were identified, which were expanded into five: ‘Make me Whole,’ ‘Soul Seekers,’ ‘Conflicting Goals,’ ‘Mostly Business’, and ‘Strictly Business’. Respondent comments that represent each of these modalities are presented and indicate various levels of dependency or independency on spiritually-oriented attributes.