The role of regret in the owner-manager decision-making in the family business: A conceptual approach

This article responds to recent calls of scholars for more research on emotions in the family business by providing an initial analytical study of the owner-manager regret in decision-making. First, we suggest an enlarged theoretical framework for analyzing decision-making in the family business by building on the behavioural model of emotions in decision-making of Loewenstein and Lerner (2003) and Regret Theory. Second, we offer a first characterization of the emotion of regret in the family business. Given the overlap between the family and the business systems, we introduce a dual dimension of regret that is family-based and business-based. We also extend the analysis towards a dynamic view of regret by accounting for the owner-manager's experienced regret at the time of decision in addition to the traditionally analyzed expected regret. Departing from the common assumption that the owner-manager is altruistic towards the family and acts as a steward for the business, we consider that the owner-manager's expected outcomes refer to emotional and financial value maximization. Based on these characterizations, we develop a conceptual model with a series of propositions on the role of the owner-manager regret in decision-making. Finally, we present the theoretical, conceptual and practical contributions of the study as well as its limitations from which stem research avenues on regret and decision-making in the family business. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.