Toward a conceptualization and measurement of Catholic Social Teaching constructs

Catholic Social Teaching (CST) offers a valuable framework for evaluating business practices
and organizational ethics. Researchers have applied CST to various aspects of business,
including setting moral objectives (Abela, 2001), corporate governance (Cremers, 2017),
transparency (Vaccaro & Sison, 2011), and work-family balance (Guitian, 2009). CST
emphasizes principles such as human dignity, common good, solidarity, and subsidiarity.
While some criticize CST's religious roots as potentially exclusionary, proponents like Epstein
(1998) argue that it complements pluralistic values and fosters moral leadership. Despite its
broad applicability, CST remains underutilized in business research and practice.
The challenge lies in the subjective nature of CST principles, which are difficult to measure
objectively. This project aims to develop a scale to reliably measure these subjective mindsets,
enabling deeper exploration of CSTss application in business contexts.
Such a scale would allow researchers to investigate business issues more thoroughly using the
CST framework and help practitioners align their actions with CST values. By bridging the gap
between theoretical principles and practical application, this scale could significantly advance
the integration of CST in business research and decision-making processes, potentially leading
to more ethical and sustainable business practices.