“There and Back Again”: Sustainability Values Transmission Among UK Family Businesses

Jonida Carungu (), Matteo Molinari () and Alessia Patuelli ()
Additional contact information
Jonida Carungu: London Metropolitan University, Guildhall School of Business & Law
Matteo Molinari: University of Bergamo, Department of Management
Alessia Patuelli: IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca

A chapter in Sustainability in Education, 2026, pp 495-515 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This research relies on a theoretical approach that combines socio-emotional wealth and social contagion theories, suggesting that family dynamics and the diffusion of values may explain why some firms engage in accounting for and reporting on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In particular, this chapter explores why two small UK-based family businesses chose to report on the SDGs, with a focus on the transmission of sustainable values and culture. This research adopts an interpretive case study approach, using interviews, documents, and online sources. Our results show that the UK-based family businesses under investigation implement a proactive sustainable philosophy, by actively reporting on SDGs, emphasizing transparency, and employing a bottom-up reporting approach. Motivations include family-driven passion and a desire “to inspire others”. Challenges consist of the presence of diverse reporting frameworks and barriers for small businesses. This research progresses and nurtures the academic debate on: (1) the drivers for the implementation of SDGs from small family businesses; (2) transmission of sustainable values via the “social contagion” process within small family businesses; (3) the relevance of accounting and “Accounting for Sustainable Development” practices and reporting within family firms.

Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:csrchp:978-3-032-16077-5_21

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783032160775

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-16077-5_21

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().