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

The inclusion of morally binding values such as religious—or in a broader sense, spiritual—values fundamentally alter organizational decision-making and ethical behavior. Family firms, being a particularly value-driven type of organization, provide ample room for religious beliefs to affect family, business, and individual decisions. The influence that the owning family is able to exert on value formation and preservation in the family business makes religious family firms an incubator for value-driven and faith-led decision-making and behavior. They represent a particularly rich and relevant context to re-assess the relationship between ethical beliefs, decision-making processes and behaviors in business organizations at the interface between family and professional logics. This Special Issue is dedicated to deepening our understanding of the role religious values and spirituality play in the formation of organizational ethical practices in faith-led family firms and resulting organizational and family-related outcomes. In this editorial, we introduce the 10 papers included in this Special Issue, which investigate the relationship between religion or spirituality and family firm ethical behavior in various geographical, cultural and religious contexts, using a multitude of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. By focusing on the effects of religious or spiritual orientations on both the business and the family, as well as on the values, norms and goals present in the family business system, further research can gain a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between religious and spiritual believes, and sustainable ethical behavior in family firms

The role of family firm image perception in host-guest value co-creation of hospitality firms

Customers value the services and products of family firms. Especially the rural hospitality industry is dominated by family firms and shaped by high-contact services, where hosts and guests co-create value. Hypothesizing that behavioural and relational qualities of family firms are a central source for value co-creation and that a perceived family firm image (FFI) affects guests in co-creating value, this study investigates the effect of three relevant principles (trust, relationship commitment, social interaction ties) on value co-creation under the influence of FFI perception. The model is tested on a sample of 331 guests of Austrian rural hospitality firms. Findings show that relationship commitment and social interaction ties influence value co-creation, and a perceived FFI in particular strengthens the effect of social interaction ties on value co-creation. Implications suggest installing facilitators of value co-creation, enhancing the FFI via social capital and further investigating the customer perception of family firms in the rural hospitality industry and beyond

Addressing the theory-practice divide in family business research: The case of shareholder agreements

The ultimate aim of family business research is the production of new actionable knowledge, that is rigorous, empirically verified recommendations that fit family business needs and benefit their business practice. Oftentimes, however, research efforts fall short in meeting this goal, leaving family business owners and managers with limited guidance other than anecdotal evidence, best practices, and other forms of “conventional” or “folk” wisdom. We address this theory-practice divide in family business research using the example of shareholder agreements. We present a theoretical analysis of the characteristics, antecedents and effects of shareholder agreements on family business outcomes using the concept of family-practice fit, suggesting that characteristics of the owning family, which are expressions of family heterogeneity, should be aligned with the practices used to manage the family, and its intersection with the business in order to facilitate goal attainment. In focusing on the family as a unit of analysis, our conceptualization follows the calls for a more nuanced understanding of the family behind the firm, providing a foundation upon which future research on shareholder agreements and other widespread family business practices can build