Title: Family business goals, corporate citizenship behaviour and firm performance: disentangling the connections

Authors: Claudia Astrachan Binz; Keith E. Ferguson; Torsten M. Pieper; Joseph H. Astrachan

Addresses: Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Lucerne School of Business, Zentralstrasse 9, Luzern 6002, Switzerland ' Broad College of Business, Department of Marketing, Michigan State University, 632 Bogue Street - Office N456, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA ' Coles College of Business, Kennesaw State University, 3333 Busbee Drive NW, Suite 418, Kennesaw, GA 30144, USA ' Coles College of Business, Kennesaw State University, 3455 Campus Loop Road, House 49 Kennesaw, GA 30144, USA

Abstract: Prior research has suggested that family businesses may have a higher proclivity to behave as good corporate citizens, as compared with non-family firms, which may impact financial performance. However, while this idea is intuitively appealing, the actual antecedents of corporate citizenship behaviour in the family firm context have not yet been assessed systematically. In addition, empirical evidence regarding the impact of citizenship behaviour on firm performance remains inconclusive. Drawing from the literature on family business goals and corporate citizenship, our conceptual framework proposes that family-centred and business-centred goals act as determinants of family firm citizenship, but each with a different impact. Furthermore, we argue that family firm reputation partially mediates the relationship between family firm citizenship behaviour and family firm performance. We discuss implications for family business research and practice and offer suggestions for future studies.

Keywords: corporate citizenship behaviour; family business; family firms; firm performance; business goals; reputation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMED.2017.082549

International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, 2017 Vol.16 No.1/2, pp.34 - 56

Received: 27 Nov 2015
Accepted: 23 Nov 2016
Published online: 28 Feb 2017 *

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