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.