Articulating Values Through Identity Work: Advancing Family Business Ethics Research

Abstract

Family values are argued to enable ethical family business conduct. However, how these arise, evolve, and how family leaders articulate them is less understood. Using an 'identity work' approach, this paper finds that the values underpinning identity work: (1) arise from multiple sources (in our case: religion, culture and sustainability), (2) evolve in tandem with the context; and, (3) that their articulation is relational and aspirational, rather than merely historical. Prior research mostly understood family values as rooted in the past and relatively stable, but our rhetorical analysis unlocks a more dynamic and promising research direction advancing family business ethics.

Values, Spirituality and Religion: Family Business and the Roots of Sustainable Ethical Behavior

“…This research thus contributes also to the debate around family legacy, suggesting that religion might be an important component of the social legacy that the owning family perpetuates from generation to generation (Hammond et al, 2016). Dielemann and Koning (2020) also use time as a central dimension in their investigation of how one leader's religious and business identities have co-evolved and merged over time. Using rhetorical analysis, and adopting an identity work approach, they find that the values of one second-generation Chinese-Malaysian Christian business leader are rooted in religion, culture and sustainability, and that the way in which these values are expressed is highly contextual, relational and aspirational, rather than (as previously assumed) historical.…”

“…For example, how do the family's religious and spiritual orientation and beliefs affect how children are raised and how future owners are developed, how the family contends with intra-family conflict, or how goals are developed and infused in the organization? Barbera et al (2020) and Dielemann et al (2020) allude to the mechanism of values imprinting on the business identity as well as next generation members in faith-led family organizations, which may be a good starting point for further research in this area.…”

Ethical Decision-Making in Family Firms: The Role of Employee Identification

“…1). Overall, this is an important step to bridge the two perspectives of identity and ethical behavior (Dieleman and Koning 2020). Second, we add to the rich existing theoretical literature on identity work.…”

“…With our study, we also extend the findings of Vazquez (2016), who identified three critical aspects of ethical behavior in family firms: "involvement of the owning family, socioemotional wealth, and typical social interaction" (p. 705). Moreover, we connect to Dieleman and Koning (2020), who were among the first to bridge identity work and (un)ethical behavior in the context of family firms. We also expand past research that often investigated the individual employee or the organizational context of family businesses in isolation (Treviño et al 2006).…”

“…Recent research applies an ethics-based view of family firms and highlights that shared beliefs, norms, experiences, and values are necessary for a values-based leadership style (Barbera et al 2020). Other scholars find that a religious identity represents the most influential moral source of family business ethics (Dieleman and Koning 2020); they emphasize that such stewardship is often embedded in faith-based values (Carradus et al 2020). Research has found that most family businesses behave more ethically than non-family firms and attributed this to (1) family involvement, (2) the specific personalities and values present in family firms, and (3) the specific social interactions among family members (Vazquez 2016).…”