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Ideals-Based Accountability and Reputation in Select Family Firms

Isabelle Le Breton-Miller () and Danny Miller ()
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Isabelle Le Breton-Miller: HEC Montréal
Danny Miller: HEC Montréal

Journal of Business Ethics, 2020, vol. 163, issue 2, No 2, 183-196

Abstract: Abstract We develop a model of ideals-based accountability (IBA) which we have witnessed at work in several long-thriving family businesses. The owners and managers of these firms eschew individualism and materiality in the pursuit of ethical ideals such as supporting democracy and bettering the human condition. Although accountability is to these ideals, not for outcomes such as profitability or even reputation, IBA has resulted in outstanding reputations for some firms. We characterize IBA according to its missions, leadership, culture, and stakeholder relationships. We also contrast it with traditional forms of accountability and differentiate IBA from related stakeholder, stewardship, and CSR perspectives. Finally, we examine its manifestations within five long-lived family enterprises, in the process generating propositions to advance the concept.

Keywords: Ideals and values; Accountability; Reputation; Family firms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-019-04225-5

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