Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

BEER Spotlight Editorial Series I: Ethics, the environment and responsibility in family businesses

2022; Wiley; Volume: 31; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/beer.12450

2694-6424

Georges Samara, Dima Jamali, Stefan Marković, Ralf Barkemeyer,

Corporate Finance and Governance

Business Ethics, the Environment & ResponsibilityVolume 31, Issue 3 p. 601-603 EDITORIALFree Access BEER Spotlight Editorial Series I: Ethics, the environment and responsibility in family businesses Georges Samara, Corresponding Author Georges Samara gsamara@sharjah.ac.ae College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Correspondence Georges Samara, College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, P.O. Box 27272, United Arab Emirates. Email: gsamara@sharjah.ac.aeSearch for more papers by this authorDima Jamali, Dima Jamali College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab EmiratesSearch for more papers by this authorStefan Markovic, Stefan Markovic Department of Marketing, Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, DenmarkSearch for more papers by this authorRalf Barkemeyer, Ralf Barkemeyer Centre of Excellence for Sustainability, KEDGE Business School, Bordeaux, FranceSearch for more papers by this author Georges Samara, Corresponding Author Georges Samara gsamara@sharjah.ac.ae College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Correspondence Georges Samara, College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, P.O. Box 27272, United Arab Emirates. Email: gsamara@sharjah.ac.aeSearch for more papers by this authorDima Jamali, Dima Jamali College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab EmiratesSearch for more papers by this authorStefan Markovic, Stefan Markovic Department of Marketing, Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, DenmarkSearch for more papers by this authorRalf Barkemeyer, Ralf Barkemeyer Centre of Excellence for Sustainability, KEDGE Business School, Bordeaux, FranceSearch for more papers by this author First published: 01 July 2022 https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12450AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat The main aim of this editorial is to kick off our BEER Spotlight Editorial Series, where we will discuss emerging topics that we would like to be more featured in our journal. The idea is to shed light on hot topics related to business ethics, the environment and responsibility, that we believe deserve closer attention. We hope these editorials will serve as eye openers and stimulators for further knowledge generation within the domain of our journal. This first issue of the BEER Spotlight Editorial Series will focus on family business research in the BEER context. While we are grateful for the high-quality family business scholarship published thus far in BEER, we want to stimulate more discussion around the topic, and invite scholars to view BEER as a leading journal that is willing and able to provide a high-quality rigorous review process that contributes to strengthening the legitimacy of the family business field, particularly in terms of their ethical practices and internal and external social responsibility. Let us start with a couple of questions that we believe should be further addressed: How do various family businesses, with different governance structures, at various generational stages, with different family and financial resources, and with variegated family and business values practice ethics? And, how do they view their social responsibility in the workplace and towards the environment? As the family business field moves from adolescence to maturity (Payne, 2018; Samara, 2021), we are keen to open doors for pushing forward the scholarship that addresses the important topic of ethical and socially responsible practices of family firms. We believe this is a strategically important topic, which is gaining traction, and we hope to see more progress and contributions within this sphere in BEER over the coming period. Family businesses have historically been, and continue to be, the most dominant organizational form around the world (La Porta et al., 1999). It has been widely acknowledged that the main feature that differentiates family businesses from their non-family counterparts is the impact that family involvement in ownership, management and control has on business operations. Thus far, the most commonly used theoretical framework that explains the family effect on business strategies and operations is the desire of controlling family owners to pursue socioemotional wealth (SEW). SEW is defined as the affective endowments that family members gain from their involvement in the business and that drive their decision making (Gómez-Mejía et al., 2007). At the same time, recent advances in the literature call for a more nuanced view and application of SEW. In this context, we would like to stress that a more refined investigation of SEW and how it affects family business ethical and social outcomes is necessary. Indeed, SEW is a multidimensional construct (Debicki et al., 2016; Samara et al., 2021). Berrone et al. (2012) decompose the SEW construct into five dimensions, namely (1) a desire to preserve family control and influence; (2) identification of family members with the firm; (3) binding social ties; (4) emotional attachment of family members; and (5) renewal of family bonds to the firm through dynastic succession. While these five dimensions may co-exist (Berrone et al., 2012), recent advances in the literature indicate that some dimensions can be more prominent than others (Debicki et al., 2016; Samara et al., 2021) and different configurations will shape decision-making processes within family businesses. Hence, it becomes critical to explore which family firms prioritize certain SEW dimensions and how these affect their ethical practices and social responsibilities both in the workplace and towards the environment. In short, more work needs to be done to unveil which SEW dimensions may reveal a bright side to SEW and which dimensions may reveal its dark side (Samara et al., 2018). Furthermore, we see an opportunity for the business ethics and CSR literature to contribute to the family business literature. Indeed, there is an opportunity to explore how firms' ethical and CSR practices impact the prominence of SEW dimensions. In other words, we need to get further clarity into the direction of the relationship between various SEW dimensions and ethical and socially responsible practices in family firms. For example, if a family firm already practices ethical behaviour in its workplace, can this reinforce binding social ties and ease the concerns of next generation family members in preserving influence and control within family hands? Likewise, there are ample opportunities for the business ethics literature to inform the family business literature. For example, Parada et al. (2019) investigate how Aristotelian values and virtues influence family business behaviour across a wide range of practices. Another example can be drawn from the work of Garriga and Mele (2004) who define the four ethical motivations that can drive firms' ethical practices (Instrumental, Ethical, Political, Integrative). Here, there is an opportunity to dig deeper into the moral or financial motivations driving family businesses to act ethically or practice social responsibility. These are only a few examples suggesting that more work coming from the business ethics literature can enrich the family business field. All of these discussions mentioned above, can help to advance the family business field in terms of ethics and social responsibility. Thus, we invite authors from the family business and ethics/social responsibility fields to think critically and make contributions in this regard. Below, we define business ethics and social responsibility in the family business as a point of demarcation for future studies interested in exploring the various paradoxes described above. 1 FAMILY BUSINESS ETHICS Ethics are morally binding values that differentiate right from wrong, and that are often driven by religion and/or culture (Eze et al., 2021; Markovic et al., 2018; Parada et al., 2019). In family businesses, ethics originate from the founding family, and continue or change following the family business transitions from one generation to the next. Family businesses can vary according to the level to which non-economic socioemotional goals are prioritized (Samara & Paul, 2019) and how they translate into actual ethical practices. Thus far, the bulk of extant research has focused on comparing family firms with non-family firms by exploring the differences in family and non-family business ethics practices; very few studies have explored the differences among family firms and what drives them to be more ethical than others (Vazquez, 2018). Hence, we encourage more scholarship that takes into consideration both the advancements made in the broader family business literature, particularly in the broader applications of SEW, to explore differences in ethical orientation within the heterogeneous group of family firms, in terms of how their ethical values drive, shape and impact a wide range of business practices. 2 FAMILY BUSINESS SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Corporate social responsibility (CSR), whether towards internal stakeholders or the environment (Cruz et al., 2014), is an application of ethics and sustainable development values. More specifically, CSR can be defined as the activities a firm undertakes, that go beyond its legal responsibilities, to benefit its internal and external stakeholders, translating into contributions to the wellbeing of their employees and in taking measures that protect the environment and that contribute to the broader socioeconomic context (Markovic et al., 2021; Samara et al., 2018; Wood, 2010). Similar to the discussion of ethics, we consider that social responsibility in family firms, both towards internal stakeholders (Samara et al., 2022; Sanchez-Bueno et al., 2020) and the environment (Berrone et al., 2012; Cruz et al., 2014; Samara et al., 2018), deserve a more refined outlook, by exploring the heterogeneity in family firms—a heterogeneity stemming from: (1) their generational ownership stage that goes beyond the cousin consortium; (2) the peculiar family and business governance structure; (3) the specific goals that they may pursue; and (4) the interplay between various socioemotional goals that can either translate into a dark or a bright orientation in relation to social responsibility. Finally, we believe there is a need for a finer grained analysis of CSR drivers and unique orientations and manifestations in the family business sphere, as the sustainable development paradigm continues to gain salience in various contexts with immediate relevance to family and non-family firms. As the United Nations continue to work on its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we believe that given their worldwide influence with regard to other businesses, family firms can be a key strategic target that can help in achieving those goals. These overarching research questions are just intended for guidance and to turn attention to issues that we believe remain relatively under-explored in the family business, ethics and responsibility nexus. They are by no means exhaustive, but just intended to scratch the surface and begin to turn the spotlight to what we believe to be a promising avenue for scholarship with immediate relevance to BEER readership. Over the coming few months, we will cast spotlights on other strategic issues within the Ethics and Sustainability sphere, in order to stimulate further conversation and discussion and to drive more depth and rigor into the conversations happening in these areas. We hope these spotlight editorials will in turn serve their purpose, and be well received by our readers and followers. REFERENCES Berrone, P., Cruz, C., & Gomez-Mejia, L. R. (2012). Socioemotional wealth in family firms: Theoretical dimensions, assessment approaches, and agenda for future research. Family Business Review, 25(3), 258– 279. CrossrefWeb of Science®Google Scholar Cruz, C., Larraza–Kintana, M., Garcés–Galdeano, L., & Berrone, P. (2014). Are family firms really more socially responsible? Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 38(6), 1295– 1316. CrossrefWeb of Science®Google Scholar Debicki, B. J., Kellermanns, F. W., Chrisman, J. J., Pearson, A. W., & Spencer, B. A. (2016). Development of a socioemotional wealth importance (SEWi) scale for family firm research. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 7(1), 47– 57. CrossrefWeb of Science®Google Scholar Eze, N. L., Nordqvist, M., Samara, G., & Parada, M. J. (2021). Different strokes for different folks: The roles of religion and tradition for transgenerational entrepreneurship in family businesses. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 45(4), 792– 837. CrossrefWeb of Science®Google Scholar Garriga, E., & Melé, D. (2004). Corporate social responsibility theories: Mapping the territory. Journal of Business Ethics, 53(1), 51– 71. CrossrefWeb of Science®Google Scholar Gómez-Mejía, L. R., Haynes, K. T., Núñez-Nickel, M., Jacobson, K. J., & Moyano-Fuentes, J. (2007). Socioemotional wealth and business risks in family-controlled firms: Evidence from Spanish olive oil mills. Administrative Science Quarterly, 52(1), 106– 137. CrossrefWeb of Science®Google Scholar La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., & Shleifer, A. (1999). Corporate ownership around the world. The Journal of Finance, 54(2), 471– 517. Wiley Online LibraryWeb of Science®Google Scholar Markovic, S., Iglesias, O., Qiu, Y., & Bagherzadeh, M. (2021). The CSR imperative: How CSR influences word-of-mouth considering the roles of authenticity and alternative attractiveness. Business & Society. CrossrefWeb of Science®Google Scholar Markovic, S., Iglesias, O., Singh, J. J., & Sierra, V. (2018). How does the perceived ethicality of corporate services brands influence loyalty and positive word-of-mouth? Analyzing the roles of empathy, affective commitment, and perceived quality. Journal of Business Ethics, 148(4), 721– 740. CrossrefWeb of Science®Google Scholar Parada, M. J., Samara, G., Dawson, A., & Bonet, E. (2019). Prosperity over time and across generations: The role of values and virtues in family businesses. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 33(4), 639– 654. CrossrefWeb of Science®Google Scholar Payne, G. T. (2018). Reflections on family business research: Considering domains and theory. Family Business Review, 31(2), 167– 175. CrossrefWeb of Science®Google Scholar Samara, G., Parada, M. J., & Fathallah, R. (2022). The workplace social performance of family firms: A configurational approach. Management Research Review, Ahead-of-print. CrossrefWeb of Science®Google Scholar Samara, G. (2021). Family businesses in the Arab Middle East: What do we know and where should we go? Journal of Family Business Strategy, 12(3), 100359. CrossrefWeb of Science®Google Scholar Samara, G., Jamali, D., & Parada, M. J. (2021). Antecedents and outcomes of bifurcated compensation in family firms: A multilevel view. Human Resource Management Review, 31(1), 100728. CrossrefWeb of Science®Google Scholar Samara, G., & Paul, K. (2019). Justice versus fairness in the family business workplace: A socioemotional wealth approach. Business Ethics: A European Review, 28(2), 175– 184. Wiley Online LibraryWeb of Science®Google Scholar Samara, G., Jamali, D., Sierra, V., & Parada, M. J. (2018). Who are the best performers? The environmental social performance of family firms. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 9(1), 33– 43. CrossrefWeb of Science®Google Scholar Sanchez-Bueno, M. J., Muñoz-Bullón, F., & Galan, J. I. (2020). Socially responsible downsizing: Comparing family and non-family firms. Business Ethics: A European Review, 29(1), 35– 55. Wiley Online LibraryWeb of Science®Google Scholar Vazquez, P. (2018). Family business ethics: At the crossroads of business ethics and family business. Journal of Business Ethics, 150(3), 691– 709. CrossrefWeb of Science®Google Scholar Wood, D. J. (2010). Measuring corporate social performance: A review. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), 50– 84. Wiley Online LibraryWeb of Science®Google Scholar Volume31, Issue3July 2022Pages 601-603 ReferencesRelatedInformation