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The Legacy Motive: A Catalyst for Sustainable Decision Making in Organizations

Author

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  • Fox, Matthew
  • Tost, Leigh Plunkett
  • Wade-Benzoni, Kimberly A.

Abstract

In this article, we review and build on intergenerational and behavioral ethics research to consider how the motive to build a lasting legacy can impact ethical behavior in intergenerational decision making. We discuss how people can utilize their relationships to organizations to craft their legacies. Further, we elucidate how the legacy motive can enhance business ethics, incorporating theory and empirical findings from research on intergenerational decision making, generativity, and terror management theory to develop the legacy construct and to outline the psychological underpinnings of motivations to leave a positive legacy. We discuss the ways in which legacies can provide a link between life-meaning and pro-social motivation, and we consider the ways in which individuals’ social environments can moderate the intensity of the legacy motive and can impact legacy-building behavior by determining the types of legacies that are valued. Finally, we highlight the implications of these ideas for ethical behavior and sustainable decision making in business contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Fox, Matthew & Tost, Leigh Plunkett & Wade-Benzoni, Kimberly A., 2010. "The Legacy Motive: A Catalyst for Sustainable Decision Making in Organizations," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(2), pages 153-185, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:buetqu:v:20:y:2010:i:02:p:153-185_00
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Pankaj Koirala & Raja Rajendra Timilsina & Koji Kotani, 2021. "Deliberative Forms of Democracy and Intergenerational Sustainability Dilemma," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-18, July.
    2. Vanessa Diaz-Moriana & Eric Clinton & Nadine Kammerlander & G. T. Lumpkin & Justin B. Craig, 2020. "Innovation Motives in Family Firms: A Transgenerational View," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(2), pages 256-287, March.
    3. Nathaniel Geiger & Bryan McLaughlin & John Velez, 2021. "Not all boomers: temporal orientation explains inter- and intra-cultural variability in the link between age and climate engagement," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 1-20, May.
    4. McCarter, Matthew W. & Wade-Benzoni, Kimberly A. & Kamal, Darcy K. Fudge & Bang, H. Min & Hyde, Steven J. & Maredia, Reshma, 2020. "Models of intragroup conflict in management: A literature review," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 925-946.
    5. Robert Phillips & Judith Schrempf-Stirling & Christian Stutz, 2020. "The Past, History, and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(2), pages 203-213, October.
    6. Lumpkin, G.T. & Bacq, Sophie, 2022. "Family business, community embeddedness, and civic wealth creation," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(2).
    7. Jordi Honey-Rosés & Marc Menestrel & Daniel Arenas & Felix Rauschmayer & Julian Rode, 2014. "Enriching Intergenerational Decision-Making with Guided Visualization Exercises," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(4), pages 675-680, July.
    8. van Dijke, Marius & Leunissen, Joost M. & Wildschut, Tim & Sedikides, Constantine, 2019. "Nostalgia promotes intrinsic motivation and effort in the presence of low interactional justice," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 46-61.
    9. Giuseppe Danese, 2017. "A social contract approach to sustainability," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 64(4), pages 327-339, December.

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