Harmony, Justice, Confusion, and Conflict in Family Firms: Implications for Ethical Climate and the "Fredo Effect"

Journal of Business Ethics

Volumn 106, Issue 4, 2012, Pages 503-517

  Kidwell, Roland E ^a   Kellermanns, Franz W ^b,c   Eddleston, Kimberly A ^d  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE   (United States)

^c WHU OTTO BEISHEIM SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT   (Germany)

^d NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Deviant behavior; Ethical climate; Family firms; Family harmony norms; Relationship conflict

Indexed keywords

EID: 84859218105     PISSN: 01674544     EISSN: 15730697     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s10551-011-1014-7     Document Type: Article

References (123)

1. Akers, R. L. (1994). Criminological theories: Introduction and evaluation. Los Angeles: Roxbury.
2. Alpay, G., Muzaffer, B., Yilmaz, C., Cetinkaya, S., & Arikan, L. (2008). Performance implications of institutionalization process in family-owned businesses: Evidence from an emerging economy. Journal of World Business, 43(4), 435-448.
3. Amason, A. C. (1996). Distinguishing the effects of functional and dysfunctional conflict on strategic decision making: Resolving a paradox for top management teams. Academy of Management Journal, 39(1), 123-148.
4. Arregle, J.-L., Hitt, M. A., Sirmon, D. G., & Very, P. (2007). The development of organizational social capital: Attributes of family firms. Journal of Management Studies, 44, 72-95.
5. Ashforth, B. E. (2001). Role transition in organizational life: An identity-based perspective. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Associates.
6. Astrachan, J., & Jaskiewicz, P. (2008). Emotional returns and emotional costs in privately-held family businesses: Advancing traditional business valuation. Family Business Review, 21(2), 139-150.
7. Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
8. Bartels, L. K., Harrick, E., Martell, K., & Strickland, D. (2004). The relationship between ethical climate and ethical problems within human resource management. Journal of Business Ethics, 17, 799-804.
9. Beehr, T. A., Drexler, J. A., Jr., & Faulkner, S. (1997). Working in small family businesses: Empirical comparisons to non-family businesses. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 18, 297-312.
10. Bennett, R. J., Thau, S., & Scouten, J. (2005). 'I deserve more because my name is on the door'. Entitlement, embeddedness and employee deviance in the family business. In R. E. Kidwell Jr. & C. L. Martin (Eds.), Managing organizational deviance (pp. 287-300). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
11. Bullock, B. M., Bank, L., & Burraston, B. (2002). Adult sibling expressed emotion and fellow sibling deviance: A new piece of the family process puzzle. Journal of Family Psychology, 16(3), 307-317.
12. Bylsma, W. H., & Major, B. (1994). Social comparisons and contentment: Exploring the psychological costs of the gender wage gap. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18, 241-249.
13. Chrisman, J. J., Chua, J. H., Chang, E. P., & Kellermanns, F. W. (2007). Are family managers agents or stewards? An exploratory study in privately-held family firms. Journal of Business Research, 60, 1030-1038.
14. Chrisman, J. J., Chua, J. H., & Kellermanns, F. (2004a). A comparative analysis of organizational capabilities of family and non-family firms. In Proceedings of the Southern Management Association, San Antonio, TX.
15. Chrisman, J. J., Chua, J. H., & Litz, R. (2004b). Comparing the agency costs of family and non-family firms: Conceptual issues and exploratory evidence. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 28(4), 335-354.
16. Chrisman, J. J., Gatewood, E., & Donlevy, L. B. (2002). A note on the efficiency and effectiveness of outsider assistance programs in rural versus non-rural states. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 26(3), 67-80.
17. Chrisman, J. J., McMullan, E., & Hall, J. (2005). The influence of guided preparation on the long-term performance of new ventures. Journal of Business Venturing, 20, 769-791.
18. Cohen, D. V. (1993). Creating and maintaining ethical work climates: Anomie in the workplace and implications for managing change. Business Ethics Quarterly, 3(4), 343-358.
19. Corbetta, G., & Salvato, C. (2004). Self-serving or self-actualizing? Models of man and agency costs in different types of family firms: A commentary on "Comparing the agency costs of family and non-family firms: Conceptual issues and exploratory evidence". Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 28(4), 355-362.
20. Danes, S. M., Zuiker, V., Kean, R., & Arbuthnot, J. (1999). Predictors of family business tension and goal achievement. Family Business Review, 12(3), 241-252.
21. Davis, J. H., Schoorman, F. D., & Donaldson, L. (1997). Toward a stewardship theory of management. Academy of Management Review, 22, 20-47.
22. Desmarais, S., & Lerner, M. J. (1989). A new look at equity and outcomes as determinants of satisfaction in close personal relationships. Social Justice Research, 3, 105-119.
23. Doty, D. H., & Glick, W. H. (1998). Common methods bias: Does common methods variance really bias results? Organizational Research Methods, 1, 374-406.
24. Dumas, C. (1992). Integrating the daughter into family business management. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 16(4), 41-55.
25. Dyer, W. G. (1994). Potential contributions of organizational behavior to the study of family-owned businesses. Family Business Review, 7, 109-131.
26. Eddleston, K., & Kellermanns, F. W. (2007). Destructive and productive family relationships: A stewardship theory perspective. Journal of Business Venturing, 22(4), 545-565.
27. Eddleston, K., Kellermanns, F. W., & Sarathy, R. (2008a). Resource configuration in family firms: Linking resources, strategic planning and environmental dynamism to performance. Journal of Management Studies, 45, 26-50.
28. Eddleston, K., & Kidwell, R. E. (2012). Parent-child relationships: Planting the seeds of deviant behavior in the family firm. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, 36(2) (forthcoming).
29. Eddleston, K., Otondo, R., & Kellermanns, F. W. (2008b). Conflict, participative decision making, and multi-generational ownership: A multi-level analysis. Journal of Small Business Management, 47, 457-485.
30. Fritzsche, D. J. (2000). Ethical climates and the ethical dimension of decision-making. Journal of Business Ethics, 24, 125-140.
31. Gersick, K. E., Davis, J. A., Hampton, M. M., & Lansberg, I. (1997). Generation to generation: Life cycles of the family business. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
32. Gilboa, S., Shirom, A., Fried, Y., & Cooper, C. (2008). A meta-analysis of work demand stressors and job performance examining main and moderating effects. Personnel Psychology, 61, 227-271.
33. Gómez-Mejia, L. R., Hynes, K. T., Nunez-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, 106-137.
34. Gordon, G., & Nicholson, N. (2008). Family wars: Classic conflicts in family business and how to deal with them. London/Philadelphia: Kogan Page.
35. Greenberg, J. (1988). Equity and workplace status: A field experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 73, 606-613.
36. Greenberg, J. (1990). Organizational justice: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Journal of Management, 16, 399-432.
37. Greenberg, J. (1993). The social side of fairness: Interpersonal and informational classes of organizational justice. In R. Cropanzano (Ed.), Justice in the workplace: Approaching fairness in human resource management (pp. 79-103). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
38. Greenwood, R. (2003). Commentary on: "Toward a theory of agency and altruism in family firms". Journal of Business Venturing, 18, 491-494.
39. Hair, J. F., Black, B., Babin, B., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2006). Multivariate data analysis (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
40. Harvey, M., & Evans, R. E. (1994). Family business and multiple levels of conflict. Family Business Review, 7(4), 331-348.
41. Heck, R. (2004). A commentary on "entrepreneurship in family vs. non-family firms: A resource-based analysis of the effect of organizational culture". Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 28(4), 383-389.
42. Howe, R. F. (2005). The fall of the house of Mondavi. Business 2. 0, 6(3), 99-103.
43. Hoy, F. (2006). The complicating factor of life cycles in corporate venturing. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 30(6), 831-836.
44. http://www. poemofquotes. com/quotes/movies/godfather-ii. php. Accessed August 25, 2010.
45. http://www. urbandictionary. com/define. php?term=Fredo. Accessed August 25, 2010.
46. Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1995). Evaluating model fit. In R. H. Hoyle (Ed.), Structural equation modeling: Concepts, issues, and applications (pp. 76-99). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
47. Jackson, S. E., & Schuler, R. S. (1985). A meta-analysis and conceptual critique of research on role ambiguity and role conflict in work settings. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 36, 16-78.
48. Jehn, K. A. (1992). The impact of intragroup conflict on effectiveness: A multimethod examination of the benefits and detriments of conflict. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Northwestern University Graduate School of Management, Evanston, IL.
49. Jehn, K. A. (1994). Enhancing effectiveness: An investigation of advantages and disadvantages of value-based intragroup conflict. The International Journal of Conflict Management, 5(3), 223-238.
50. Jehn, K. A. (1995). A multimethod examination of the benefits and detriments of intragroup conflict. Administrative Science Quarterly, 40, 256-282.
51. Jehn, K. A. (1997). A qualitative analysis of conflict types and dimensions in organizational groups. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42, 530-557.
52. Jehn, K. A., & Mannix, E. A. (2001). The dynamic nature of conflict: A longitudinal study of intragroup conflict and group performance. Academy of Management Journal, 44, 238-251.
53. Jehn, K. A., Northcraft, G. B., & Neale, M. A. (1999). Why differences make a difference: A field study of diversity, conflict, and performance in workgroups. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44, 741-763.
54. Johnson, C., & Ford, R. (2000). Emotional reactions to conflict: Do dependence and legitimacy matter? Social Forces, 79(1), 107-138.
55. Kahn, R. L., Wolfe, D. M., Quinn, R. P., Snoek, J. D., & Rosenthal, R. A. (1964). Organizational stress: Studies in role conflict and ambiguity. New York: Wiley.
56. Kanuk, L., & Berenson, C. (1975). Mail surveys and response rate: A literature review. Journal of Marketing Research, 22, 440-453.
57. Kellermanns, F. W., & Eddleston, K. (2004). Feuding families: When conflict does a family firm good. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 28(3), 209-228.
58. Kellermanns, F. W., & Eddleston, K. (2006). Feuding families: The management of conflict in family firms. In P. Poutziouris, K. Smyrnios, & B. Klein (Eds.), Family business research handbook (pp. 358-368). Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing.
59. Kellermanns, F. W., & Eddleston, K. (2007). A family perspective on when conflict benefits family firm performance. Journal of Business Research, 60, 1048-1057.
60. Kenny, D. A., Kashy, D. A., & Bolger, N. (1998). Data analysis in social psychology. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (4th ed., Vol. 1, pp. 233-265). New York: Oxford University Press.
61. Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (1993). The dynamics of family controlled firms: The good and the bad news. Organizational Dynamics, 21(3), 59-71.
62. Kim, W. C., & Mauborgne, R. A. (1998). Procedural justice, strategic decision making and the knowledge economy. Strategic Management Journal, 19, 323-338.
63. Kline, R. B. (1998). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York: The Guilford Press.
64. Lansberg, I. S. (1983). Managing human resources in family firms: The problem of institutional overlap. Organizational Dynamics, 12, 39-46.
65. Lenzner, R., & Pendleton, D. (2007). Family feud. Forbes, 180(10), 108-112.
66. Levinson, H. (1971). Conflicts that plague family businesses. Harvard Business Review, 49, 90-98.
67. Lind, E. A., & Tyler, T. R. (1988). The social psychology of procedural justice. Plenum: New York.
68. Lowenstein, G. F., Thompson, L., & Bazerman, M. H. (1989). Social utility and decision making in interpersonal contexts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 426-441.
69. Lubatkin, M. H., Schulze, W. S., Ling, Y., & Dino, R. N. (2005). The effects of parental altruism on the governance of family-managed firms. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26(3), 313-330.
70. Major, B. (1993). Gender, entitlement and the distribution of family labor. Journal of Social Issues, 49, 141-159.
71. Martin, K. D., & Cullen, J. B. (2006). Continuities and extensions of ethical climate theory: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Business Ethics, 69, 175-194.
72. Martin, K. D., Johnson, J. L., & Cullen, J. B. (2009). Organizational change, normative control deinstitutionalization, and corruption. Business Ethics Quarterly, 19(1), 105-130.
73. McLean Parks, J. (1997). The fourth arm of justice: The art and science of revenge. Research on negotiation in organizations, 6, 113-144.
74. Miller, D., Le Breton-Miller, I., & Schonick, B. (2008). Stewardship vs. stagnation: An empirical comparison of small family and non-family businesses. Journal of Management Studies, 45(1), 51-78.
75. Morrison, E. W., & Robinson, S. L. (1997). When employees feel betrayed: A model of how psychological contract violation develops. Academy of Management Review, 22, 226-256.
76. Mulaik, S. A., James, L. R., Alstine, J. V., Bennett, N., Ling, S., & Stilwell, C. D. (1989). Evaluation of goodness-of-fit for structural equation models. Psychological Bulletin, 105(3), 430-445.
77. Olson, P. D., Zuiker, V. S., Danes, S. M., Stafford, K., Heck, R. K., & Duncan, K. A. (2003). The impact of the family and the business on family business sustainability. Journal of Business Venturing, 18, 639-666.
78. Onyemah, V. (2008). Role ambiguity, role conflict, and performance: Empirical evidence of an inverted-U relationship. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 28, 299-313.
79. Oppenheim, A. N. (1966). Questionnaire design and attitude measurement. New York: Free Press.
80. Pearson, A. W., Carr, J. C., & Shaw, J. C. (2008). Toward a theory of familiness: A social capital perspective. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 32(6), 949-969.
81. Podsakoff, P. M., & Organ, D. W. (1986). Self-reports in organizational research: Problems and perspectives. Journal of Management, 12, 531-544.
82. Pofeldt, E. (2003). Blood feud. Fortune Small Business, 13(8). http://money. cnn. com/magazines/fsb. Accessed January 12, 2009.
83. Price, J. L., & Mueller, C. W. (1986). Absenteeism and turnover among hospital employees. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
84. Priem, R., & Price, K. (1991). Process and outcome expectation for the dialectic inquiry, devil's advocacy, and consensus techniques of strategic decision making. Group and Organization Studies, 16, 206-225.
85. Puzo, M. (1999/1969). The Godfather. New York: Penguin Books USA.
86. Rizzo, J. R., House, R. J., & Lirtzman, S. (1970). Role conflict and ambiguity in complex organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 15, 150-163.
87. Robinson, S. L., & Rousseau, D. M. (1994). Violating the psychological contract: Not the exception but the norm. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 15, 245-259.
88. Rosenblatt, P. C., de Mik, L., Anderson, R. M., & Johnson, P. A. (1985). The family in business. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
89. Ross, W. T., Jr., & Robertson, D. C. (2000). Lying: The impact of decision context. Business Ethics Quarterly, 10(2), 409-440.
90. Schein, E. H. (1983). The role of the founder in creating organizational culture. Organizational Dynamics, 12(1), 13-28.
91. Schein, E. H. (1985). Organizational culture and leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
92. Schulze, W. S., Lubatkin, M. H., Dino, R. N., & Buchholtz, A. K. (2001). Agency relationships in family firms: Theory and evidence. Organisation Science, 12(2), 99-116.
93. Schwepker, C. H. J., & Hartline, M. D. (2005). Managing the ethical climate of customer-contact service employees. Journal of Service Research, 7(4), 377-397.
94. Sheppard, B. H., Lewicki, R. J., & Minton, J. (1992). Organizational justice: The search for fairness in the workplace. New York: Free Press.
95. Simons, T. L., & Peterson, R. S. (2000). Task conflict and relationship conflict in top management teams: The pivotal role of intragroup trust. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 102-111.
96. Sims, R. L. (2002). Ethical rule breaking by employees: A test of social bonding theory. Journal of Business Ethics, 40, 101-109.
97. Sirmon, D. G., & Hitt, M. A. (2003). Managing resources: Linking unique resources, management and wealth creation in family firms. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 27(4), 339-358.
98. Smith, C. S., Tisak, J., & Schmieder, R. A. (1993). The measurement properties of the role conflict and role ambiguity scales: A review and extension of the empirical research. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 14, 37-48.
99. Sorenson, R. L. (1999). Conflict management strategies used in successful family businesses. Family Business Review, 12(4), 325-339.
100. Spector, P. E. (1997). The role of frustration in antisocial behavior at work. In R. A. Giacalone & J. Greenberg (Eds.), Antisocial behavior in organizations (pp. 1-17). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
101. Spector, P. E., & Brannick, M. T. (1996). The nature and effects of method variance in organizational research. In C. L. Cooper & I. T. Robertson (Eds.), International review of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 249-274). West Sussex, England: Wiley.
102. Stamper, C. L., & Masterson, S. S. (2002). Insider or outsider? How employee perceptions of insider status affect their work behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23, 875-894.
103. Steier, L. (2001). Family firms, plural forms of governance, and the evolving role of trust. Family Business Review, 14(4), 353-367.
104. Straub, D., Limayem, M., & Karahanna-Evaristo, E. (1995). Measuring system usage: Implications for theory testing. Management Science, 41(8), 1328-1342.
105. Sullivan, S. E., & Bhagat, R. S. (1992). Organizational stress, job satisfaction and job performance: Where do we go from here? Journal of Management, 18, 353-374.
106. Sundaramurthy, C. (2008). Sustaining trust within family businesses. Family Business Review, 21, 89-102.
107. Sundaramurthy, C., & Kreiner, G. E. (2008). Governing by managing identity boundaries: The case of family businesses. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 32(3), 415-436.
108. Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (1996). Using multivariate statistics (3rd ed.). New York: HarperCollins College Publishers.
109. Taylor, J. E., & Norris, J. E. (2000). Sibling relationships, fairness and conflict over transfer of the farm. Family Relations, 49(3), 277-283.
110. Treviño, L. K., Butterfield, K. D., & McCabe, D. L. (1998). The ethical context in organizations: Influences on employee attitudes and behaviors. Business Ethics Quarterly, 8(3), 447-476.
111. Treviño, L. K., Weaver, G. R., & Reynolds, S. J. (2006). Behavioral ethics in organizations: A review. Journal of Management, 32, 951-990.
112. Turnley, W. H., & Feldman, D. C. (2000). Re-examining the effects of psychological contract violations: Unmet expectations and job dissatisfaction as mediators. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21, 25-42.
113. Vallejo, M. C. (2008). Is the culture of family firms really different? A value-based model for its survival through generations. Journal of Business Ethics, 81, 261-279.
114. Vallejo, M. C. (2009). The effects of commitment of non-family employees of family firms from the perspective of stewardship theory. Journal of Business Ethics, 87, 379-390.
115. van den Berghe, L. A. A., & Carchon, S. (2003). Agency relations within the family business system: An exploratory approach. Corporate Governance, 11, 171-179.
116. van der Hayden, L., Blondel, C., & Carlock, R. S. (2005). Fair process: Striving for justice in family business. Family Business Review, 18, 1-21.
117. Victor, B., & Cullen, J. B. (1987). A theory and measure of ethical climate in organizations. In W. C. Frederick (Ed.), Research in corporate social performance and policy (pp. 51-71). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
118. Victor, B., & Cullen, J. B. (1988). The organizational bases of ethical work climates. Administrative Science Quarterly, 33, 101-125.
119. Weingart, L., & Jehn, K. A. (2000). Managing intrateam conflict through collaboration. Blackwell handbook of principles of organizational behavior (pp. 226-238). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
120. Wimbush, J. C., & Shepard, J. M. (1994). Toward an understanding of ethical climate: Its relationship to ethical behavior and supervisory influence. Journal of Business Ethics, 13, 637-647.
121. Zahra, S. A. (2003). International expansion of U. S. manufacturing family businesses: The effect of ownership and involvement. Journal of Business Venturing, 19, 495-512.
122. Zahra, S. A., Hayton, J. C., Neubaum, D. O., Dibrell, C., & Craig, J. (2008). Culture of family commitment and strategic flexibility: The moderating effect of stewardship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 32(6), 1035-1054.
123. Zellweger, T., & Astrachan, J. (2008). On the emotional value of owning a firm. Family Business Review, 21(4), 347-363.