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From Profit to Purpose: The Distinctive Proposition of the Economy of Communion Approach

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Abstract  

In this essay, we highlight 7 distinctives of EoC businesses which set them apart even from other humanistic approaches to management. Not that EoC’s distinctives make them a non-humanistic form of management, but they distinguish it with a unique set of goals and aims. These are: 1. Social and Economic Transformation Towards Unity; 2. The existential Self giving aspect—Creating a Culture of Encounter; 3. Redistributing Wealth for the Common Good; 4. Concern to Alleviate Poverty in All of Its Forms, and to Participate in Poverty; 5. EoC Entrepreneurs Participate in Poverty (The Wound and the Blessing); 6. Fraternity and the Market as a Place of Community-Building (Communion); and 7. Competitors as friends—Acting as “Starters of Cooperation.”

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Notes

  1. For a contemporary bibliography of EoC research in English, refer to Gustafson & Harvey  (2020).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Creighton University, Omaha, NE, USA

    Andrew Gustafson

  2. College of St. Mary, Omaha, NE, USA

    Celeste Harvey

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  1. Andrew Gustafson
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  2. Celeste Harvey
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Correspondence to Andrew Gustafson.

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Gustafson, A., Harvey, C. From Profit to Purpose: The Distinctive Proposition of the Economy of Communion Approach. Humanist Manag J 8, 167–179 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41463-023-00152-w

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