Family‐centered businesses may have unique perspectives of socially responsible behavior due to family involvement and ties to the community. This research explored the antecedents and consequences of community social responsibility (CSR) for family firms operating in small and rural markets. Using a national sample from the 2000 wave of the National Family Business Survey (NFBS), researchers profiled family business operators' (n = 221) to determine if their CSR orientation contributed to family business performance. Enlightened self interest and social capital perspectives provide a framework for elaborating the role of CSR in sustaining family businesses in changing small communities. Results indicate that three dimensions, commitment to the community, community support, and sense of community, account for 43 percent of the variation in family business operators' CSR. Size of the business was significantly related to family firms' ability to give and receive community support. Further, commitment to the community was found to significantly explain perceived family business performance while community support explained financial performance. Findings suggest that socially responsible business behaviors can indeed contribute to the sustainability of family businesses in small rural communities.

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Social capital and strategic network theory formed the basis for examining antecedents, impacts, and outcomes of formal networks organized for enhancing small community business success. Qualitative data derived from field interviews with small business network directors and members were used to identify five theoretical constructs and the potential relationships among those constructs.With insight from the interviews, hypotheses were derived and tested with quantitative data gathered via a telephone survey instrument with 377 small business owners who held membership in 1 of 29 networks operating in small communities across four Midwest states. Owners characterized their businesses as successful and likely to grow. Results of EQS modeling suggested that shared vision and resource sharing among network members significantly benefited members' businesses, and that these benefits were associated with a generalized perception of the advantages of network membership and positively affected members' future participation plans, thus furthering the likelihood of network continuance.

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