Corporate Social Responsibility and Family Business in the Time of COVID-19: Changing Strategy?

Elena Rivo-López, Mónica Villanueva-Villar, Miguel Michinel-Álvarez and Francisco Reyes-Santías
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Elena Rivo-López: Department of Business Organization and Marketing, Faculty of Business and Tourism, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
Mónica Villanueva-Villar: Department of Financial Economics and Accounting, Faculty of Business and Tourism, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
Miguel Michinel-Álvarez: Department of Private Law, Faculty of Law, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
Francisco Reyes-Santías: Department of Business Organization and Marketing, Faculty of Business and Tourism, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-13

Abstract: Companies in general and family businesses in particular engage in local collaborations in rather diverse areas through their corporate social responsibility activities. The COVID-19 pandemic has made these contributions to community improvement more apparent, suggesting a paradigm shift. This conceptual paper proposes a reflection about the evolution of the corporate social responsibility activities linked to family businesses in emergencies and from the socioemotional wealth perspective. The contribution of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it provides an in-depth reflection on the evolution of philanthropy, posing the following questions: are we witnessing a reinvention of corporate social responsibility within the framework of family businesses because of the global pandemic; does this new trend deserve support, given the fundamental role that family businesses have played in this situation; and if so, what should such support consist of, and what is the optimal channel for articulating it? Secondly, the paper proposes a theoretical framework from the socioemotional wealth perspective to advance research about corporate social responsibility carried out by family businesses. Business families are more likely to implement strategies that promote ethical behavior and CSR activities in their companies. The pandemic situation has created new possibilities for developing CSR.

Keywords: family business; corporate social responsibility; socioemotional wealth perspective; SEW; crisis; pandemic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:2041-:d:499131

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