Firms as quasi-traditions: the moral backbone of social legacy

Abstract

Social legacies have been characterized as fragile and likely to be abandoned as firms face cycles of crises that impact its utility, and yet we know that social legacies do endure for extended periods of time, and in the case of family businesses, even beyond the tenure of the family. The social legacy concept is also normative and value-laden and yet, surprisingly, its moral foundations are absent. We draw upon Alasdair MacIntyre’s conception of tradition to lay out such a moral foundation for the social legacy concept which helps us explain its continuity amidst cycles of crises and change. Specifically, we conduct a historical-archival study of Rathbones plc, a firm with a near 300-year history, to illustrate that firms can be understood as akin to traditions, or as quasi-traditions, and furthermore that a social legacy can provide firms with a moral backbone that anchors the quasi-tradition to ensure continuity amidst periods of crisis. For practitioners, we highlight that managing firms as quasi-traditions is a critical capacity that is underscored by stewardship as an inter-generational appreciation connecting past, present and future.

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ORCID for Matthew Sinnicks: orcid.org/0000-0003-2588-5821

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