Exploring family values, religion, and ethical behavior in family businesses: A multi-stage qualitative investigation

One key element distinguishing family firms from non-family firms is the role of the family’s religious beliefs, with growing attention on understanding the fit between religion and family in shaping a business’s ethical conduct. A family firm’s behavior is embedded in an institutional context, and it is important to understand how multiple institutional logic shapes a family firm’s values and ethical behavior. While scholars agree on the central significance of family values and religion in shaping family firms’ values and ethical behavior, a definitive consensus on the influence of family values and religion in confronting ethical challenges and shaping ethical behavior has yet to be reached. We lack a theory explaining how family, family business, and religion shape a family firm’s ethical conduct. We conducted a qualitative study to investigate the role of family values and religion in shaping a family firm’s ethical conduct. The results reveal four themes, namely (a) ethical chall...