We arrive at novel and valuable insights into the relation between identification processes and ethical decision - making in family firms . In terms of the generalizability of our research - it was our primary focus to obtain an insightful and rich understanding of ethical behavior in family firms . Therefore , we started with a well - selected data set , which is in line with current standards ( e.g. , Salvato and Corbetta 2013 ) . However , we acknowledge the interviews conducted with a sample of 19 family firm employees allow only limited interpretations of the connection between identity and ethical behavior . Given that our study is limited to German family firms , our findings could be subject to bias due to the single - nation focus . Each nationality and culture has different values , and individuals ' ethical awareness could be influenced by their cultural background . To gain a more detailed understanding , we suggest taking our research as a basis to explore further the family firm 's unique characteristics and ethical behavior against other cultural settings . For instance ,   has recently revealed contradictions between family and external expectations of Corporate Social Responsibility reporting measures in Latin American family businesses . From an ethics perspective , we did not assess examples of ( un)ethical behavior . An ( objective ) assessment and evaluation of actual ( un)ethical behavior is an important next step to interpret whether or not the approach to an ethical situation is congruent with the underlying value system . We also call for future research to examine the temporal dimension of identification , an important facet which is rarely studied . As our results show , identification is not static but dynamic in nature . Identification processes involve many aspects , both on the individual and organizational level . Identifying with an organization and its values is an ongoing journey for employees . Some parts of an individual 's identity even evolve along with the sense of belonging to an organization , which needs further investigation ( Knapp et al . 2013;Kreiner et al . 2006 ) .