Religious and secular values in family firms and managerial decisions

In this project, we aim to develop a closer understanding of the influence of religious(Christian or Muslim) and secular values on family firms (FFs) and their managerial decisions. Managerial decisions of family firms are shaped by their unique emphasis on socioemotional wealth, i.e. distinct non-financial aspects or goals that meet the owner family’s affective needs. We focus on selected influential managerial decisions including corporate social responsibility engagements, mergers & acquisitions activities, crisis management and management control choices. Religious and secular values can be expected to either attenuate or reinforce the impact of socioemotional wealth on these managerial decisions. This project can therefore shed light on how religious and secular values shift families’ reference points and thus influence decision-making. To do so, we want to draw on interviews with members of owner families from the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) due to its homogenous cultural background. We envisage that this project not only allows for novel insights into the under-researched question of how religion shapes managerial decisions of family firms, but also for the identification of configurations of such values and managerial choices that promise a more effective management of FFs.