The role of Islamic ethics in shaping passion for social innovation

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to study the role of ethics in the social innovation process and its effect on entrepreneurial passion. It explores the factors that encourage social entrepreneurs to innovate by examining the concepts of harmonious and obsessive passion and ethics. Design/methodology/approach The database consists of 97 entrepreneurs who benefited from the services offered by the support organizations for social entrepreneurs. The data are analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings The results show that Islamic ethics has a positive effect on social innovation. This effect can be further amplified by harmonious passion (HP). Such passion certainly strengthens social entrepreneurs throughout the innovation process and consolidates the implementation phase of their projects. Practical implications This study highlights the importance of ethics in the process of social innovation. Ethics acts directly or through HP to stimulate social innovation. This passion enables taking actions and favors the creation of innovative social projects. Originality/value These findings add value to the previous literature by introducing ethics into the entrepreneurial passion theory and exploring new factors that promote social innovation.