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Implementing Sustainable Development Concept: A Typology of Family Firms in Poland

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  • Ada Domańska

    (Department of Banking and Financial Markets, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, 20-031 Lublin, Poland)

  • Ewa Więcek-Janka

    (Department of Marketing and Organization Development, Poznan University of Technology, 60-965 Poznań, Poland)

  • Robert Zajkowski

    (Department of Banking and Financial Markets, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, 20-031 Lublin, Poland)

Abstract

For companies, sustainable development generally represents a long-term business orientation towards social, economic and environmental well-being. The concept has gained momentum among researchers partly due to the necessity of finding a modern approach to business development that does not deprive the next generation of the opportunity to meet its own needs. Based on a sample of 333 Polish family firms, three groups of businesses were isolated (via k-means clustering) on the basis of low, medium and high deployment of pro-sustainability initiatives. This paper aims to investigate whether family firms demonstrating divergent levels of sustainable development express between-group differences. Measuring diversity using ANOVA with post hoc testing produced results associating business growth and higher levels of family involvement (e.g., via increased participation of family members from different generations in firm management) with the increased absorption of sustainable solutions and actions. These findings support notions from social identity theory suggesting that groups significantly shape the individual identities of their members. This means that family members inclined to implement sustainable development initiatives are likely to stimulate each other to introduce particular solutions and actions in praxis.

Suggested Citation

  • Ada Domańska & Ewa Więcek-Janka & Robert Zajkowski, 2022. "Implementing Sustainable Development Concept: A Typology of Family Firms in Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-21, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:7:p:4302-:d:787115
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    2. Ralph Sonntag & Gerard J. Lewis & Andrzej Raszkowski, 2022. "The Importance of Implementing SDGs by Small and Medium Size Enterprises: Evidence from Germany and Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-14, December.

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