Economic initiative is an expression of human intelligence and of the necessity of responding to human needs in a creative and cooperative fashion. Creativity and cooperation are signs of the authentic concept of business competition: a “cumpetere”, that is, a seeking together of the most appropriate solutions for responding in the best way to needs as they emerge. The sense of responsibility that arises from free economic initiative takes not only the form of an individual virtue required for individual human growth, but also of a social virtue that is necessary for the development of a community in solidarity. “Important virtues are involved in this process, such as diligence, industriousness, prudence in undertaking reasonable risks, reliability and fidelity in interpersonal relationships, as well as courage in carrying out decisions which are difficult and painful but necessary, both for the overall working of a business and in meeting possible set-backs”.718John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 32: AAS 83 (1991), 833.
The roles of business owners and management have a central importance from the viewpoint of society, because they are at the heart of that network of technical, commercial, financial and cultural bonds that characterizes the modern business reality. Due to the increasing complexity of business activities, decisions made by companies produce a number of very significant interrelated effects, both in the economic and social spheres. For this reason the exercise of responsibility by business owners and management requires — in addition to specific updating that is the object of continuous efforts — constant reflection on the moral motivations that should guide the personal choices of those to whom these tasks fall. Business owners and management must not limit themselves to taking into account only the economic objectives of the company, the criteria for economic efficiency and the proper care of “capital” as the sum of the means of production. It is also their precise duty to respect concretely the human dignity of those who work within the company.719Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2432. These workers constitute “the firm's most valuable asset” 720John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 35: AAS 83 (1991), 837. and the decisive factor of production.721Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 32: AAS 83 (1991), 832-835. In important decisions concerning strategy and finances, in decisions to buy or sell, to resize, close or to merge a site, financial and commercial criteria must not be the only considerations made.
The Church's social doctrine insists on the need for business owners and management to strive to structure work in such a way so as to promote the family, especially mothers, in the fulfilment of their duties; 722Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 19: AAS 73 (1981), 625-629. to accede, in light of an integral vision of man and development, to the demand for the quality “of the goods to be produced and consumed, the quality of the services to be enjoyed, the quality of the environment and of life in general”; 723John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 36: AAS 83 (1991), 838. to invest, when the necessary economic conditions and conditions of political stability are present, in those places and sectors of production that offer individuals and peoples “an opportunity to make good use of their own labour”.724John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 36: AAS 83 (1991), 840.