Justice versus fairness in the family business workplace: A socioemotional wealth approach

Abstract

The organizational justice literature and the family business literature have developed independently, which limits our understanding of fairness and justice in the family business workplace. So far, the concepts of justice and fairness have been used interchangeably in the family business literature, as if objective measures that aim to increase justice in the workplace will automatically translate into fairness perceptions among family business employees. By integrating the organizational justice literature and the family business literature, we first differentiate between the two concepts of justice and fairness and argue that a utilitarian conceptualization of justice may come into direct conflict with fairness perceptions in the family business workplace. Second, we shed light on the importance of incorporating socioemotional goals, particularly those that reveal a bright side of socioemotional wealth, into rules and regulations designed to increase justice in the workplace, which, we argue, contributes to increasing fairness perceptions among employees and to building and maintaining an ethical family business workplace. Theoretical and practical contributions are discussed at the end of the paper.

Leading by example: Testing a moderated mediation model of ethical leadership, value congruence, and followers' openness to ethical influence

“…Thus, future studies in this field should measure a broader range of justice rules leaders may adhere to, most notably distributive and procedural justice aspects. Following the research by Samara and Paul (), such studies would also permit to investigate whether and to what degree different contexts (e.g., family businesses or employee‐owned companies) produce distinct notions of what is normatively appropriate leader behavior.…”

“…Following the research by Samara and Paul (2019), such studies would also permit to investigate whether and to what degree different contexts (e.g., family businesses or employee-owned companies) produce distinct notions of what is normatively appropriate leader behavior.…”

Why some are more equal: Family firm heterogeneity and the effect on management’s attention to CSR

“…The answers to our research question can be summarized as follows: First, the study reveals that, generally speaking, family ownership positively affects management’s attention to CSR. Due to their desire for socioemotional rewards, family owners “pay greater attention to what others think of them” (Berrone et al, , p. 84) and have a greater need for stakeholder satisfaction (Feliu & Botero, ); based on a study of justice and fairness in the family business context, Samara and Paul () propose open communication and wide transparency on socioemotional goals. In recognition of their societal role and ambition for socioemotional rewards and legitimacy, family owners have more of an increased requirement for management’s attention to CSR, that is, they demand visibility of the firm’s good deeds and—vice versa—invisibility of their shortcomings in this regard more than other types of owners.…”

Challenges and Opportunities for Digital Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries

“…The existence of wealthy families is well noted in the Middle East, Latin America, Northern Africa, and Asia. This leads to family firms being the predominant organizational, and the latter are not only concerned with financial returns, but also with nonfinancial benefits such as the family's identity and preserving family influence in the business (Samara and Paul 2019). In the context of digital entrepreneurship, corporate governance levels refer to the extent to which top management leads and organizes a business through incorporating technology and e-commerce ideas and projects.…”