Prosocial Religion as a Resource: A Source of Competitive Advantage for Family Firms

Abstract

Recent studies emphasize how prosocial religious beliefs promote behaviors that lead to success in intergroup competition. We extend this research by introducing the Prosocial Religion as a Resource perspective into the field of family business. This perspective explains how prosocial religious beliefs act as resources for family firms. Our model includes the following stages: acquisition by owner-managers of prosocial religious beliefs; prosocial behavior by the owner-managers and their agents; stakeholder observation of the firm’s behavior; improvement in firm reputation. Our propositions explore situations where the prosocial religious beliefs of owner/managers provide a source of sustainable competitive advantage for family firms.