Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a critical role in the green economy due to their significant environmental footprint. Because more than 84% of the world’s population identifies with a religion, most SME top-executives are likely to identify with a religion that would influence their decision-making. Despite these recent advances, prior studies have focused on SMEs’ external drivers and did not consider the role of internal drivers, such as the characteristics of SMEs’ top-executives, in influencing green marketing strategy. We aim (...) to address this gap by focusing on religious identification as a key driver of green marketing by SMEs. Specifically, we examine the effects of top-executives’ religious identification on strategic green marketing orientation (SGMO), and how such effects are moderated by political ideology. Using respondents comprised of CEO and/or owner-managers of SMEs in the US, the results show empirical evidence supporting the importance of religious identification in influencing green marketing decisions. Moreover, we found that the effects of religious identification on SGMO are more pronounced among top-executives with Conservative ideology. (shrink)

This article discusses the ethics and drivers of philanthropic foundations in emerging markets. A foundation organizes assets to invest in philanthropic initiatives. Previous scholarship has largely focused on developed countries, especially the United States, and has questioned the ethics behind the activities of foundations, particularly for strategic motives that served wider corporate purposes. We argue that philanthropic foundations in emerging markets have distinctive characteristics that merit separate examination. We scrutinize the ethics behind the longitudinal activity of such foundations using 70 (...) oral history interviews with business leaders in 18 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. We find that 55 out of 70 foundations associated with these leaders have been used as vehicles for a specific type of philanthropic ethics defined as “spiritual philanthropy”. These foundations often embodied personal or family traditions, culture, and religious values, which emphasized charitable giving and social responsibility. As in the case of many of the industrial foundations in Europe, these foundations also carried founding family names and provided a structure to maintain family control and enhance corporate reputation. We argue that, as business leaders in emerging markets are more directly exposed to dire social, educational and health deprivation than their counterparts in developed countries, they are less inclined toward grandiose world-making, and their foundations are more focused on delivering immediate benefits to communities in their home countries, motivated by implicit or explicit spirituality. (shrink)

This study explores how being satisfied with one’s life as an entrepreneur is a crucial ethical and psychological outcome of early volition and, subsequently, a vital resource in the development of a richer eudaimonic experience from entrepreneurship. We develop and test our predictions based on two independent datasets: American and Swedish business owners and early stage entrepreneurs. We argue and demonstrate that satisfaction with life as an entrepreneur conveys a distinct state of entrepreneurial well-being and constitutes a crucial self-evaluation which (...) mediates the effects of early volition in entrepreneurship on long-term eudaimonia. We contribute to the emerging conversations on entrepreneurship, business ethics, and well-being. (shrink)

Research studying the effects of non-financial goals on stakeholder relationships remains inconclusive, with scholars disagreeing on which goals increase or decrease a firm’s proactive stakeholder engagement (PSE). Instead of examining which goals act as forces for good or evil, we shift the focus of recent discussions by emphasizing the mechanisms that can explain the positive and negative stakeholder outcomes of non-financial goals under the umbrella of one theoretical lens. We do so by introducing an ethics of care perspective. Specifically, we (...) first show that four of the five most distinctive non-financial goals of family owners jointly stipulate care-based morality, which likely enhances PSE. However, we subsequently argue that one goal, namely, the wish to exert power and influence, interacts with other goals and related care-based morality to lower PSE. Finally, we show how female family directors temper these interactions. Our insights into the additive and interactive effects of non-financial goals on PSE contribute to corporate social responsibility research, to the organizational goal literature, to family business studies and to work drawing on care ethics in management studies. (shrink)

This article aims to explore the main topics in business ethics in Indonesia by reviewing manuscripts and conducting focus discussion groups. We adopt Harzing’s PoP application to review 995 manuscripts and VOS Viewer to draw a bibliometric figure, followed by a series of focus discussion groups. This article explores the main topics in business ethics in Indonesia by reviewing manuscripts and conducting focus discussion groups. The results show that the primary business ethics literature in Indonesia focuses on four topics: (1) (...) ethics in the financial market, (2) ethics in education, (3) ethics in the workplace, and (4) Sharia ethics. These key trends of business ethics literature are different from the global literature. The main reason may come from the cultural gap, in which the local cultural diversity provides various terminologies and key recurring concepts. The results present the central local wisdom that comes from the significant ethnicity in this country. In addition, this report also provides future ethical topics at the intersection between business and political ethics by involving digital technological turbulence. In addition, future ethical topics need to address the intersection between business and political ethics by involving digital technological turbulence to explain how Indonesian tech companies strive to integrate ethical practices and strengthen data protection, especially in the gig economy and e-commerce sectors. Hence, the business ethics curriculum should encourage responsible consumers and producers by promoting awareness of false information, cyberbullying, and political manipulation. (shrink)

This systematic literature review contributes to the increasing interest regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR) in family firms—a research field that has developed considerably in the last few years. It now provides the opportunity to take a holistic view on the relationship dynamics—i.e., drivers, activities, outcomes, and contextual influences—of family firms with CSR, thus enabling a more coherent organization of current research and a sounder understanding of the phenomenon. To conceptualize the research field, we analyzed 122 peer-reviewed articles published in highly (...) ranked journals identifying the main issues examined. The results clearly show a lack of research regarding CSR outcomes in family firms. Although considered increasingly crucial in family firm research, a study investigating family outcomes (e.g., family community status, family emotional well-being), as opposed to firm outcomes, is missing. This literature review outlines the current state of research and contributes to the actual debate on CSR in family firms by discussing how family firms can use CSR activities as strategic management tools. Moreover, our analysis shows a black box indicating how CSR links different antecedents and outcomes. The black box is significant since firms generally need to know where to allocate their scarce resources to generate the best outcomes. We identify nine research questions based on these findings, which we hope will inspire future research. (shrink)

When this study was initiated in 2008, the concept of family social capital was new to the family business discipline. This paper summarizes in-depth qualitative research grounded in owning family experience to understand the nature and source of owning family social capital. _Exploratory research_ began with roundtable discussions among family business owners, advisors, and researchers to understand how owning families sustain positive relationships characteristic of family social capital. These discussions revealed that some family business owners rely on their family faith (...) to sustain and establish ethical norms. A follow-up review in the family studies literature revealed that many families rely on family faith practices and faith-based narratives to reinforce ethical norms that strengthen family relationships. Based on these findings, researchers developed hypotheses to guide additional research. Four owning families affiliated with different Christian denominations participated in _in-depth qualitative research_ that supports hypotheses. Interviews and archival data revealed very similar faith-based practices, beliefs, and values across the four owning families. And additional qualitative evidence indicated positive connections between values-based family social capital and family owner succession, business performance, and community support. Theoretical relationships derived from qualitative data are summarized in a Faith-Based Values Theory of Family Business. (shrink)

The extent and mechanisms through which religion intertwines with decision-making processes in family firms remain inadequately understood. Family firm owners, driven by their commitment to ethical business practices and the safeguarding of their socioemotional wealth, actively seek cues to inform their decision-making processes. This research demonstrates that, among these guiding cues, top-level executives’ perceived religiosity emerges as a relevant factor. Building upon the socioemotional wealth perspective and conducting a longitudinal analysis based on listed family firms between 2009 and 2018, our (...) findings reveal a positive association between family voting rights and the presence of board members perceived to be religious. Furthermore, this relationship is less pronounced if family firms operate in industries with high research and development intensity. Our study confirms that boards with high shares of religiously perceived directors are positively associated with the appointment of chief executive officers perceived to be religious during succession events. We thereby present a unique perspective that acknowledges perceived religiosity as a micro-level constituent shaping board membership and successor selection. This investigation captures the intricate interplay between religion and family firms under a socioemotional wealth umbrella, offering important insights to the family business ethics discourse. Our research also offers practical implications for board and leadership diversity management in family firms. (shrink)

The ethical behavior prevalent in an organization often determines business success or failure. Much research in the business context has scrutinized ethical behavior, but there are still few insights into its roots; this study furthers this line of inquiry. In line with identity work theory, we examine how employees’ identification with a family business shapes internal ethical decision-making processes. Because it is individuals who engage in decision-making—be it ethical or not—our research perspective centers on the individual level. We followed an (...) inductive, qualitative approach and conducted interviews with 19 employees in seven family businesses. We found that individuals engage in identity work when they identify as individual family firm employees and when they identify with the perceived characteristics of the family firm. These processes of identification, in turn, influence how employees cope with ethical situations. Our findings contribute to ethics and family business research, as well as to identity theory. (shrink)

Business Ethics: A European Review, EarlyView.

We extend the literature by providing evidence that a cultural variable, intrinsic Islamic religiosity is important in understanding auditors’ judgement in the Islamic context of Pakistan. The intrinsic Islamic religiosity theoretical construct examined is Islamic Worldview which represents deeply held enduring and stable values which are likely to be dominant in influencing professionals’ judgements. Moreover, theoretical underpinning and empirical evidence in social psychology and organisational behaviour have established the critical role of intrinsic religiosity in influencing behaviour. Our first objective is (...) to examine whether IW impacts auditors’ judgements in the context of their acceptance of uncorroborated low-reliability client-provided evidence. Understanding the potential impact of cultural factors on auditors’ acceptance of client-provided information is an essential factor in improving audit quality. Our findings support the hypothesis that auditors with high IW scores are more likely to accept uncorroborated low-reliability client-provided evidence. Our second objective is to examine the relationship between IW and auditors’ preference for exercising more or less judgements. Examining this topic is important because auditing is a judgement-based process: auditors’ judgements determine audit quality and, by extension, the quality of associated financial reports. Our findings provide overall support for the hypothesis that auditors with high IW scores have a preference for exercising more judgement. Our findings have implications for global and national standard setters, regulators, practitioners, and researchers. The results are also relevant to global audit firms and their affiliates, particularly networks operating in Islamic countries, in ensuring global consistency of audits. (shrink)