The Cognitive Side of Entrepreneurial Ethics: What Do We Still Need to Know?

Abstract

The paper aims to review the current state of the knowledge in an attempt to renew the interest in studying cognitive side of entrepreneurial ethics. The paper explores how the two streams of the literature — entrepreneurial cognition and entrepreneurial ethics — can possibly be integrated to guide future research. It also reviews the literature at the intersection of entrepreneurial cognitions and ethics. In doing so, the paper draws upon the extant literature to propose a set of questions for future research. Given the ethical implications of entrepreneurial behavior, this paper calls for future interdisciplinary work among entrepreneurial cognition scholars and business ethicists. The extant literature has generally focused on exploring the linkages among entrepreneurial cognitions, moral awareness, and moral judgment. It appears that relatively sparse attention is paid to explore the underlying cognitive patterns of an entrepreneur's actions pertaining to unethical business practices. This gap in the literature at the intersection of cognitions and ethics holds significant potential for future research. The proposed questions for future research include the following: How do cognitive biases and heuristics make an entrepreneur more susceptible to immoral judgment and reasoning? Which of the cognitive schemas is more likely to enhance moral intentions of entrepreneurs? How does distributed cognition shape socially responsible entrepreneurial behavior? Do entrepreneurs prefer rule-based or cost/benefit-based reasoning approach while making moral judgment? Which of the cognitive dimensions of socially responsible behavior — utilitarianism, just, and rights — is more common among entrepreneurs in developed countries in comparison to the entrepreneurs in developing and emerging economies? Do immigrant and/or ethnic entrepreneurs experience identity ambiguity and how does it relate to their unethical actions? How does the level of motivation affect an entrepreneur's reliance on heuristics rather than employing a systematic response to process information for ethical judgment? The proposed questions potentially offer insights into the way in which entrepreneurial cognitions and entrepreneurial ethics are interconnected. Entrepreneurship scholars may enrich their future research efforts by exploring how might insights from entrepreneurial ethics better inform the theoretical developments of entrepreneurial cognitions.