Sustainability motives and mechanisms: a stewardship perspective in family businesses

Family businesses, with their focus on legacy, intergenerational continuity, and strong community ties, are uniquely positioned to contribute to sustainability. However, the idiosyncratic motives and mechanisms underlying this type of value creation remain largely unaddressed. To respond to this gap, we draw on stewardship theory to investigate the way stewardship influences and shapes the motives and mechanisms behind sustainability in the family business. Drawing on an in-depth single case study of a third-generation Italian family business, we reveal the role of stewardship-driven sustainability mechanisms which are grounded in three stewardship motivations – business, community, and environmental. These mechanisms help operationalize organizational practices to achieve organizational sustainability within the family business context. Our study contributes theoretically to the family business literature through context-based theorization and a conceptual framework of motives, mechanisms, and outcomes in family business.