Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T07:38:38.163Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Toward a Theory of Stakeholder Salience in Family Firms1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Ronald K. Mitchell ,
Bradley R. Agle ,
James J. Chrisman  and
Laura J. Spence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

The notion of stakeholder salience based on attributes (e.g., power, legitimacy, urgency) is applied in the family business setting. We argue that where principal institutions intersect (i.e., family and business); managerial perceptions of stakeholder salience will be different and more complex than where institutions are based on a single dominant logic. We propose that (1) whereas utilitarian power is more likely in the general business case, normative power is more typical in family business stakeholder salience; (2) whereas in a general business context legitimacy is socially constructed; for family stakeholders, legitimacy is based on heredity; and (3) whereas temporality and criticality are somewhat independent in general-business urgency, they are linked in the family business case because of family ties and family-centered non-economic goals. We apply this theoretical framework to position and integrate the contributions to this special section of Business Ethics Quarterly on “Stakeholder Theory, Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Family Enterprise.”

Type
Articles
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , April 2011 , pp. 235 - 255
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Agle, B. R., Donaldson, T., Freeman, E., Jensen, M., Mitchell, R. K., & Wood, D. J. 2008. Dialogue: Toward superior stakeholder theory. Business Ethics Quarterly, 18: 153–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Agle, B. R., Mitchell, R. K., & Sonnenfeld, J. A. 1999. Who matters to CEOs? An investigation of stakeholder attributes and salience, corporate performance, and CEO values. Academy of Management Journal, 42: 507–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ajzen, I. 1991. The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50: 179–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Albert, S., & Adams, E. 2002. The hybrid identity of law firms. In Moingeon, B. and Soenen, G., (Eds.), Corporate and organizational identities: Integrating strategy, marketing, communication and organizational perspectives: 35–50. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Albert, S., & Whetten, D. 1985. Organizational identity. Research in Organizational Behavior, 7: 263–95.Google Scholar
Berger, P. L., & Luckman, T. 1966. The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge. New York: Anchor.Google Scholar
Bergstrom, T. C. 1989. A fresh look at the rotten kid theorem and other household mysteries. Journal of Political Economy, 97: 1138–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berrone, P., Cruz, C., Gomez-Mejía, L. R., & Larraza-Kintana, M. 2010. Socioemotional wealth and corporate responses to institutional pressures: Do family-controlled firms pollute less? Administrative Science Quarterly, 55: 82–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carney, M. 2005. Corporate governance and competitive advantage in family-controlled firms. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 29: 249–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, W. 2010. Academic entrepreneurship in a field of multiple logics: University technology transfer in the United States. Dissertation. Lubbock: Texas Tech University.Google Scholar
Chrisman, J. J., & Carroll, A. B. 1984. Corporate responsibility: Reconciling economic and social goals. Sloan Management Review, 25(2): 59–65.Google Scholar
Chrisman, J. J., Chua, J. H., Pearson, A. W., & Barnett, T. Forthcoming. Family involvement, family influence, and family-centered non-economic goals in small firms. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 36.Google Scholar
Chrisman, J. J., Chua, J. H., & Sharma, P. 2005. Trends and directions in the development of a strategic management theory of the family firm. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 29: 555–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chua, J. H., Chrisman, J. J., & Chang, E. P. C. 2004. Are family firms born or made? An exploratory investigation. Family Business Review, 17: 37–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chua, J. H., Chrisman, J. J., & Sharma, P. 1999. Defining the family business by behavior. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 23(4): 19–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chua, J. H., Chrisman, J. J., & Sharma, P.. 2003. Succession and non-succession concerns of family firms and agency relationship with non-family managers. Family Business Review, 16: 89–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chun, R. 2005. Ethical character and virtue of organizations: An empirical assessment and strategic implications. Journal of Business Ethics, 57: 269–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cyert, R. M., & March, J. G. 1963. The behavioral theory of the firm. Englewood Cliffs N.J.: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Dahl, R. A. 1957. The concept of power. Behavioral Science, 2: 201–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, P. S., & Harveston, P. D. 1999. In the founder’s shadow: Conflict in the family firm. Family Business Review, 12: 311–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donaldson, T., & Dunfee, T. W. 1999. Ties that bind. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Drucker, P., 1954. The practice of management. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Dunn, M. B., & Jones, C. 2010. Institutional logics and institutional pluralism: The contestation of care and science logics in medical education, 1967–2005. Administrative Science Quarterly, 55: 114–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Etzioni, A. 1964. Modern organizations. Englewood Cliffs N.J.: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Fiske, S. T., & Taylor, S. E. 1984. Social cognition. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Fox, M., Tost, L. P. & Wade-Benzoni, K. A. 2010. The legacy motive: A catalyst for sustainable decision making in organizations. Business Ethics Quarterly, 20: 153–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedland, R., & Alford, R. R. 1991. Bringing society back in: Symbols, practices, and institutional contradictions. In Powell, W. W. & DiMaggio, P. J. (Eds.), The new institutionalism in organizational analysis, 232–63. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Friedman, M. 1970. The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. The New York Times Magazine (September 13): 32–33, 122–126.Google Scholar
Gomez-Mejía, L. R., Hynes, K. T., Núñez-Nickel, M., & Moyano-Fuentes, H. 2007. Socioemotional wealth and business risk in family-controlled firms: Evidence from Spanish olive oil mills. Administrative Science Quarterly, 52: 106–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gomez-Mejía, L. R., Makri, M., & Larraza-Kintana, M. 2010. Diversification decisions in family-controlled firms. Journal of Management Studies, 47: 223–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gupta, V. & Levenburg, N. 2010. A thematic analysis of cultural variations in family businesses: The CASE Project. Family Business Review, 23: 155–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hambrick, D., & Mason, P. 1984. Upper echelons: the organization as a reflection of its top managers. Academy of Management Review, 9: 193–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heck, R. K. Z., & Stafford, K. 1999. The prevalence of family business from a household sample. Family Business Review, 12: 209–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hitt, M. A., Hoskisson, R. E., Johnson, R. A., & Moesel, D. D. 1996. The market for corporate control and firm innovation. Academy of Management Journal. 39: 1084–1120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janjuha-Jivraj, S., & Spence, L. J. 2009. The nature of reciprocity in family firm succession. International Small Business Journal, 27: 702–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. H. 1976. Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3: 305–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, C. 2001. Co-evolution of entrepreneurial careers, institutional rules and competitive dynamics in American film, 1895–1920. Organization Studies, 22: 911–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karra, N., Tracey, P., & Phillips, N. 2006. Altruism and agency in family firms: Exploring the role of family kinship, and ethnicity. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 30: 861–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khavul, S., Bruton, G. D., & Wood, E. 2009. Informal family business in Africa. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 33: 1219–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitchener, M. 2002. Mobilizing the logic of managerialism in professional fields: The case of academic health centre mergers. Organization Studies, 23: 391–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kraatz, M., & Block, E. 2008. Organizational implications of institutional pluralism. In Greenwood, R.Oliver, C.Sahlin-Andersson, K., & Suddaby, R. (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism, 243–75. London: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., & Shleifer, A. 1999. Corporate ownership around the world. Journal of Finance, 54: 471–517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le Breton-Miller, I., & Miller, D. 2006. Why do some family businesses out-compete? Governance, long-term orientation, and sustainable capability. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 30: 731–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, R. G., & Mathews, K. M. 2011. Ethics in the family firm: Cohesion through reciprocity and exchange. Business Ethics Quarterly, 21: 287–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lounsbury, M. 2007. A tale of two cities: Competing logics and practice variation in the professionalizing of mutual funds. Academy of Management Journal, 50: 289–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lubatkin, M. H., Durand, R., & Ling, Y. 2007. The missing lens in family firm governance theory: A self-other typology of parental altruism. Journal of Business Research, 60: 1022–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
March, J. G., & Simon, H. A. 1958. Organizations. New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Melin, L., & Nordqvist, M. 2007. The reflexive dynamics of institutionalization: The case of family business. Strategic Organization, 5: 321–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, D., Steier, L., & Le Breton-Miller, I. 2003. Lost in time: Intergenerational succession, change, and failure in family business. Journal of Business Venturing, 18: 513–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Misangyi, V. F., Weaver, G. R., & Elms, H. 2008. Ending corruption: The interplay among institutional logics, resources, and institutional entrepreneurs. Academy of Management Review, 33: 750–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, J. R., Hart, T. A., Valcea, S., & Townsend, D. M. 2009. Becoming the boss: Discretion and postsuccession success in family firms. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 33: 1201–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, R. K., & Agle, B. R. 1997. Stakeholder identification and salience: Dialogue and operationalization. In Weber, J. & Rehbein, K. (Eds.), International Association for Business and Society 1997 Proceedings: 365–70. Destin, Fla.: International Association for Business and Society.Google Scholar
Mitchell, R. K., Agle, B. R., & Wood, D. J. 1997. Toward a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: Defining the principle of who and what really counts. Academy of Management Review, 22: 853–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, R. K., Morse, E. A., & Sharma, P. 2003. The transacting cognitions of non-family employees in the family business setting. Journal of Business Venturing, 18: 533–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, R. K. & O’Neil, S. J. 1998. Feudal institutions and small business governance: An exploration and comparison. Small Business and Enterprise Development, 5: 208–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morck, R., & Yeung, B. 2003. Agency problems in large business groups. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 27: 367–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parmar, B. L., Freeman, R. E., Harrison, J. S., Wicks, A. C., Purnell, L., & de Colle, S. 2010. Stakeholder theory: The state of the art. The Academy of Management Annals, 4: 403–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Payne, G. T., Brigham, K., Broberg, J. C., Moss, T. W., & Short, J. C. 2011. Organizational virtue orientation and family firms. Business Ethics Quarterly, 21: 257–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, A. W., Carr, J. C., & Shaw, J. C. 2008. Toward a theory of familiness: A social capital perspective. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 32: 949–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfeffer, J. 1981. Power in organizations. Marshfield, Mass.: Pitman.Google Scholar
Pfeffer, J., & Salancik, G. 1978. The external control of organizations: A resource dependence perspective. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Pollak, R. A. 1985. A transaction cost approach to families and households. Journal of Economic Literature, 23: 581–608.Google Scholar
Powell, W. W. 1991. Expanding the scope of institutional analysis. In Powell, W. W. & DiMaggio, P. J. (Eds.), The new institutionalism in organizational analysis: 183–203. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powell, W. W., & DiMaggio, P. J. 1991. The new institutionalism in organizational analysis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pratt, J., & Davis, J. 1986. Measurement and evaluation of population of family-owned businesses. U.S. Small Business Administration Report No. 9202-ASE-85. Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Purdy, J. M., & Gray, B. 2009. Conflicting logics, mechanisms of diffusion, and multilevel dynamics in emerging institutional field. Academy of Management Journal, 52: 355–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salvato, C., Chirico, F., & Sharma, P. 2010. A farewell to the business: Championing exit and continuity in entrepreneurial family firms. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 22: 321–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schulze, W. S., Lubatkin, M. H., Dino, R. N., & Buchholtz, A. K. 2001. Agency relationships in family firms: Theory and evidence. Organization Science, 12: 99–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shanker, M. C., & Astrachan, J. H. 1996. Myths and realities: Family businesses’ contribution to the US Economy—A framework for assessing family business statistics. Family Business Review, 9: 107–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharma, P., Chrisman, J. J., & Chua, J. H. 1997. Strategic management of the family business: Past research and future challenges. Family Business Review, 10: 1–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharma, P., & Manikutty, S. 2005. Strategic divestments in family firms: Role of family structure and community culture. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 29: 293–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharma, P., & Sharma, S. 2011. Drivers of proactive environmental strategy in family firms. Business Ethics Quarterly, 21: 309–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sirmon, D. G., & Hitt, M. A. 2003. Managing resources: Linking unique resources, management, and wealth creation in family firms. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 27: 339–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spence, L. J., Schmidpeter, R. & Habisch, A. 2003. Assessing social capital: Small and medium sized enterprises in Germany and the UK. Journal of Business Ethics, 47: 17–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stephenson, C. 1942. Mediaeval feudalism, Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Suchman, M. C. 1995. Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches. Academy of Management Review, 20: 571–610.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thaler, R. H., & Shefrin, H. M. 1981. An economic theory of self-control. Journal of Political Economy, 89: 392–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thornton, P. H. 2004. Markets from culture: Institutional logics and organizational decisions in higher education publishing. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thornton, P. H., Jones, C., & Kury, K. 2005. Institutional logics and institutional change in organizations: Transformation in accounting, architecture, and publishing. In Jones, C., & Thornton, P. H. (Eds.), Research in the sociology of organizations: Transformation in cultural industries, 23: 125–70. Boston: Elsevier.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thornton, P. H., & Ocasio, W. 1999. Institutional logics and the historical contingency of power in organizations: Executive succession in the higher education publishing industry, 1958–1990. American Journal of Sociology, 105: 801–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tompkins, R. 2010. The organizational identity of a family business: The role of hybrid identity in organizational events. Dissertation. Washington D.C.: The George Washington University.Google Scholar
Tsang, E. W. K. 2002. Learning from overseas venturing experience: The case of Chinese family businesses. Journal of Business Venturing, 17: 21–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Villalonga, B., & Amit, R. 2006. How do family ownership, control and management affect firm value? Journal of Financial Economics, 80: 385–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wade-Benzoni, K., Sondak, H., & Galinsky, A. 2010. Leaving a legacy. Intergenerational allocations of benefits and burdens. Business Ethics Quarterly, 20: 7–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westhead, P., & Cowling, M. 1998. Family firm research: The need for a methodological rethink. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 23: 31–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zellweger, T. M., & Nason, R. S. 2008. A stakeholder perspective on family firm performance. Family Business Review, 21: 203–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar