IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/fambus/v8y2017i3p170-184.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Beyond organizational identification: The legitimization and robustness of family identification in the family firm

Author

Listed:
  • Matherne, Curtis
  • Waterwall, Brian
  • Ring, J. Kirk
  • Credo, Keith

Abstract

This study explores family firms using principles from Social Identity Theory. Based on a survey of 173 employees working in family firms, we examine the different effects that organizational identification and family identification have on the commitment and citizenship behaviors of family firm employees. Results indicate that family identification and organizational identification represent two different constructs that affect the behaviors of employees within family firms. In particular, family identification is positively related to commitment and citizenship behaviors. Results also indicate that this relationship is affected by membership in the owning family. Our study extends the domain of organizational identification as a construct and acknowledges the importance of considering both family and organizational identification when exploring the behaviors of employees within family firms. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Matherne, Curtis & Waterwall, Brian & Ring, J. Kirk & Credo, Keith, 2017. "Beyond organizational identification: The legitimization and robustness of family identification in the family firm," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 170-184.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:fambus:v:8:y:2017:i:3:p:170-184
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfbs.2017.08.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877858516301267
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jfbs.2017.08.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mike Burkart & Fausto Panunzi & Andrei Shleifer, 2003. "Family Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(5), pages 2167-2201, October.
    2. Sabine B. Klein, 2008. "Commentary and Extension: Moderating the Outcome of Identity Confirmation in Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 32(6), pages 1083-1088, November.
    3. Miralles-Marcelo, José Luis & Miralles-Quirós, Maria del Mar & Lisboa, Inês, 2014. "The impact of family control on firm performance: Evidence from Portugal and Spain," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 156-168.
    4. Isabelle Le Breton-Miller & Danny Miller, 2009. "Agency vs. Stewardship in Public Family Firms: A Social Embeddedness Reconciliation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(6), pages 1169-1191, November.
    5. Alain Verbeke & Liena Kano, 2012. "The Transaction Cost Economics Theory of the Family Firm: Family–Based Human Asset Specificity and the Bifurcation Bias," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(6), pages 1183-1205, November.
    6. Salvatore Sciascia & Pietro Mazzola & Joseph Astrachan & Torsten Pieper, 2012. "The role of family ownership in international entrepreneurship: exploring nonlinear effects," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 15-31, January.
    7. Dean Shepherd & J. Michael Haynie, 2009. "Family Business, Identity Conflict, and an Expedited Entrepreneurial Process: A Process of Resolving Identity Conflict," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(6), pages 1245-1264, November.
    8. Pieper, Torsten M., 2010. "Non solus: Toward a psychology of family business," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 26-39, March.
    9. Tim Barnett & Franz W. Kellermanns, 2006. "Are We Family and Are We Treated as Family? Nonfamily Employees’ Perceptions of Justice in the Family Firm," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 30(6), pages 837-854, November.
    10. Olkkonen, Maria-Elena & Lipponen, Jukka, 2006. "Relationships between organizational justice, identification with organization and work unit, and group-related outcomes," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 100(2), pages 202-215, July.
    11. Jess H. Chua & James J. Chrisman & Pramodita Sharma, 1999. "Defining the Family Business by Behavior," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 23(4), pages 19-39, July.
    12. repec:bla:jfinan:v:58:y:2003:i:5:p:2167-2202 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Zellweger, Thomas M. & Eddleston, Kimberly A. & Kellermanns, Franz W., 2010. "Exploring the concept of familiness: Introducing family firm identity," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 54-63, March.
    14. Jess H. Chua & James J. Chrisman & Lloyd P. Steier & Sabine B. Rau, 2012. "Sources of Heterogeneity in Family Firms: An Introduction," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(6), pages 1103-1113, November.
    15. Ante Glavas & Lindsey Godwin, 2013. "Is the Perception of ‘Goodness’ Good Enough? Exploring the Relationship Between Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Organizational Identification," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(1), pages 15-27, April.
    16. Chamu Sundaramurthy & Glen E. Kreiner, 2008. "Governing by Managing Identity Boundaries: The Case of Family Businesses," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 32(3), pages 415-436, May.
    17. Peter Foreman & David A. Whetten, 2002. "Members' Identification with Multiple-Identity Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(6), pages 618-635, December.
    18. Blake E. Ashforth & Kristie M. Rogers & Kevin G. Corley, 2011. "Identity in Organizations: Exploring Cross-Level Dynamics," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1144-1156, October.
    19. Carmon, Anna F. & Miller, Amy N. & Raile, Amber N.W. & Roers, Michelle M., 2010. "Fusing family and firm: Employee perceptions of perceived homophily, organizational justice, organizational identification, and organizational commitment in family businesses," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 1(4), pages 210-223, December.
    20. James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Lloyd Steier, 2005. "Sources and Consequences of Distinctive Familiness: An Introduction," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(3), pages 237-247, May.
    21. Steier, Lloyd, 2007. "New venture creation and organization: A familial sub-narrative," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(10), pages 1099-1107, October.
    22. Isabelle Le Breton–Miller & Danny Miller, 2015. "The Arts and Family Business: Linking Family Business Resources and Performance to Industry Characteristics," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(6), pages 1349-1370, November.
    23. Randall D. Harris, 2004. "Organizational Task Environments: An Evaluation of Convergent and Discriminant Validity," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5), pages 857-882, July.
    24. Wendy C. Handler, 1990. "Succession in Family Firms: A Mutual Role Adjustment between Entrepreneur and Next-generation Family Members," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 15(1), pages 37-52, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Serhan, Carole & Nader, Rami & Gereige, William, 2023. "Modeling the effect of continuity and change as paradoxical forces in the inter-generational transition process of family businesses," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(4).
    2. Waterwall, Brian & Alipour, Kent K., 2021. "Nonfamily employees’ perceptions of treatment in family businesses: Implications for organizational attraction, job pursuit intentions, work attitudes, and turnover intentions," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(3).
    3. Köhn, Philipp & Ruf, Philipp Julian & Moog, Petra, 2023. "Why are non-family employees intrapreneurially active in family firms? A multiple case study," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(3).
    4. Reinhard Prügl & Dinah Isabel Spitzley, 2021. "Responding to Digital Transformation by External Corporate Venturing: An Enterprising Family Identity and Communication Patterns Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 135-164, January.
    5. Miguel Ángel Jaimes Valdez & Carlos Armando Jacobo Hernández & Sergio Ochoa Jiménez, 2021. "Los beneficios de la responsabilidad social empresarial: una revisión literaria," Tiempo y Economía, Universidad de Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano, vol. 8(2), pages 201-217, July.
    6. Elsbach, Kimberly D. & Pieper, Torsten M., 2019. "How psychological needs motivate family firm identifications and identifiers: A framework and future research agenda," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 1-1.
    7. Moreno Domínguez, María Jesús & Martín Zamora, María Pilar & Serrano Czaia, Isabel & Rodríguez Ariza, Lázaro, 2022. "Reputation and leadership: a study about reputational transfer in family and non-family firms," Cuadernos de Gestión, Universidad del País Vasco - Instituto de Economía Aplicada a la Empresa (IEAE).
    8. Boberg, Pauline S. & Bövers, Jana & Bormann, Kai C. & Hoon, Christina, 2023. "Identity leadership in family businesses: The important role of nonfamily leaders," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(2).
    9. Llach, Josep & Sanchez-Famoso, Valeriano & Danes, Sharon M., 2023. "Unmasking nonfamily employees’ complex contribution to family business performance: A place identity theory approach," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(4).
    10. Santiago, Andrea & Pandey, Shweta & Manalac, Ma. Theresa, 2019. "Family presence, family firm reputation and perceived financial performance: Empirical evidence from the Philippines," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 49-56.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guidice, Rebecca M. & Mero, Neal P. & Greene, Juanne V., 2013. "Perceptions of accountability in family business: Using accountability theory to understand differences between family and nonfamily executives," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 233-244.
    2. Elsbach, Kimberly D. & Pieper, Torsten M., 2019. "How psychological needs motivate family firm identifications and identifiers: A framework and future research agenda," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 1-1.
    3. Debellis, Francesco & Rondi, Emanuela & Plakoyiannaki, Emmanuella & De Massis, Alfredo, 2021. "Riding the waves of family firm internationalization: A systematic literature review, integrative framework, and research agenda," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(1).
    4. Dawson, Alexandra & Mussolino, Donata, 2014. "Exploring what makes family firms different: Discrete or overlapping constructs in the literature?," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 169-183.
    5. Waterwall, Brian & Alipour, Kent K., 2021. "Nonfamily employees’ perceptions of treatment in family businesses: Implications for organizational attraction, job pursuit intentions, work attitudes, and turnover intentions," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(3).
    6. Cabrera-Suárez, Mª Katiuska & Déniz-Déniz, Mª de La Cruz & Martín-Santana, Josefa D., 2014. "The setting of non-financial goals in the family firm: The influence of family climate and identification," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 289-299.
    7. Lee, Soo-Hoon & Phan, Phillip H. & Ding, Hung-bin, 2016. "A theory of family employee involvement during resource paucity," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 160-166.
    8. Rantanen, Noora & Jussila, Iiro, 2011. "F-CPO: A collective psychological ownership approach to capturing realized family influence on business," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 139-150.
    9. Brinkerink, Jasper & Rondi, Emanuela & Benedetti, Carlotta & Arzubiaga, Unai, 2020. "Family business or business family? Organizational identity elasticity and strategic responses to disruptive innovation," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(4).
    10. Lloyd P. Steier & Jess H. Chua & James J. Chrisman, 2009. "Embeddedness Perspectives of Economic Action within Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(6), pages 1157-1167, November.
    11. Hanqinq “Chevy†Fang & Robert V.D.G. Randolph & Esra Memili & James J. Chrisman, 2016. "Does Size Matter? The Moderating Effects of Firm Size on the Employment of Nonfamily Managers in Privately Held Family SMEs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(5), pages 1017-1039, September.
    12. Cabrera-Suárez, M. Katiuska & de la Cruz Déniz-Déniz, Mª & Martín-Santana, Josefa D., 2011. "Familiness and market orientation: A stakeholder approach," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 34-42, March.
    13. Carmon, Anna F. & Miller, Amy N. & Raile, Amber N.W. & Roers, Michelle M., 2010. "Fusing family and firm: Employee perceptions of perceived homophily, organizational justice, organizational identification, and organizational commitment in family businesses," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 1(4), pages 210-223, December.
    14. Van Gils, Anita & Huybrechts, Jolien & Minola, Tommaso & Cassia, Lucio, 2019. "Unraveling the impact of family antecedents on family firm image: A serial multiple-mediation model," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 17-27.
    15. Ralph I. Williams & Torsten M. Pieper & Franz W. Kellermanns & Joseph H. Astrachan, 2019. "Family business goal formation: a literature review and discussion of alternative algorithms," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 69(3), pages 329-349, September.
    16. Randerson, Kathleen & Bettinelli, Cristina & Fayolle, Alain & Anderson, Alistair, 2015. "Family entrepreneurship as a field of research: Exploring its contours and contents," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 143-154.
    17. Sami Basly & Paul-Laurent Saunier, 2020. "Familiness, socio-emotional goals and the internationalization of French family SMEs," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 270-311, September.
    18. James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Alfredo Massis & Tommaso Minola & Silvio Vismara, 2016. "Management processes and strategy execution in family firms: from “what” to “how”," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 719-734, October.
    19. Pieper, Torsten M., 2010. "Non solus: Toward a psychology of family business," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 26-39, March.
    20. James M. Vardaman & David G. Allen & Bryan L. Rogers, 2018. "We Are Friends but Are We Family? Organizational Identification and Nonfamily Employee Turnover," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(2), pages 290-309, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:fambus:v:8:y:2017:i:3:p:170-184. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/719791/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.