The Intergenerational Transmission of Simple Rules: A Process Model of Heuristic Evolution in Multigenerational Family Firms

While heuristics have been recognized as valuable decision-making tools, fundamental questions remain about their origin and evolution in organizations. Current scholarship frames heuristics as individual-level constructs derived from personal experience, leaving unexplored how decision rules may be socially transmitted and evolved across generations. We address this gap by examining transgenerational heuristic transfer in family firms. Drawing on letters and interviews with 15 family firm leaders, we develop a process model identifying three phases—instilling, absorbing, and adopting—through which predecessors’ heuristics are transmitted to and adapted by successors. This research advances heuristics scholarship by demonstrating that decision rules can be socially constructed and transferred through imprinting, challenging assumptions of purely experiential origins. We contribute to family business research by conceptualizing heuristics as a key element of legacy that influences the behavior of family leaders across generations.