From Socio-Emotional Wealth to Sustainable Business Model: A Multidimensional and Temporal Dynamic in Family Firms[De la richesse socio-émotionnelle au business model soutenable : une dynamique multidimensionnelle et temporelle en entreprise familiale]

Family businesses, which represent the most prevalent organizational form worldwide, make it essential to understand the determinants underlying the adoption of sustainable business models (SBMs). Socio-emotional wealth (SEW) theory, defined as the set of affective resources embedded by family owners in their firms, provides a relevant multidimensional framework for analyzing strategic decision-making in family businesses. By focusing on the role of SEW dimensions in the adoption of SBMs, this article addresses a theoretical and empirical gap at the intersection of sustainable business models, SEW, and family business dynamics. Drawing on an in-depth qualitative case study, the findings indicate that SBM adoption relies on a dynamic combination of four SEW dimensions - family control and influence, family members' identification with the firm, renewal of family bonds through dynastic succession, and emotional attachment - whose influence varies according to the firm's emotional archetypes and the temporal evolution of trade-offs between socio-emotional and financial objectives over the family business life cycle. The study thus highlights the structuring role of SEW dimensions in the configuration and evolution of sustainable business models in family firms.