Ethical Entrepreneurship in the Nonprofit Sector: A Case Study of the Capital Region Farmers Market

Abstract

An ongoing dilemma in the field of corporate citizenship is the successful and productive integration of commercial viability and shareholder profitability with corporate social responsibility and citizenship. This article considers Wempe's theory of ethical entrepreneurship as applied to a successful social enterprise: the Capital Region Farmers Market in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Social enterprises offer a useful case study for the integration of social purpose into for-profit organizations because of the interdependence of the commercial and social aims. The article considers the three key strategies deployed by the Capital Region Farmers Market to successfully navigate the many and at times conflicting stakeholder value claims on the organization. The findings support Wempe's proposal that the tensions arising from multiple competing stakeholder claims can be used productively to yield new values of greater benefit to the enterprise and the community it serves. [web URL: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/glbj/jcc/2015/00002015/00000059/art00008]