13127: Understanding the Relationship Between Managers’ Belief in Big Gods and Firm Reputation (session 26367)

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Family business researchers have long known that prosocial decisions by managers can improve firm reputation. However, the reasons why managers vary in their willingness to make short-term costly prosocial decisions are currently under-theorized. To help remedy this gap in the literature, we draw on recent research in the discipline of psychology that shows how a particular set of religious beliefs - belief in a Big Gods - can promote prosocial behavior. We build on this research by introducing a conceptual model that links a set of religious beliefs to firm reputation. While we certainly do not deny that other beliefs, religious, secular or otherwise, can induce owner-managers to make short-term costly prosocial decisions, our key argument is that when owner-managers believe in one or more Big Gods, they are, ceteris paribus, more likely to behave in a prosocial fashion. This paper presents a model that provides a micro-foundational explanation for why certain religious minorities are over-represented in many industries.

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