Family firm heterogeneity on CSR approach: A socio-emotional (SEW) perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 234094442110638
Author(s):  
Julio Diéguez-Soto ◽  
Marta Campos-Valenzuela ◽  
Ángela M. Callejón-Gil ◽  
Ignacio Aldeanueva-Fernández
Keyword(s):  
Family Firms ◽  
Firm Heterogeneity ◽  
Family Firm ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Jel Classification ◽  
Negative Valence ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
Interpretative Approach ◽  
Corporate Social

How family firms adopt a certain corporate social responsibility (CSR) approach remains a relatively unexplored matter in family firm and firm ethics research. Hence, we study how and why the CSR approach (broad vs. narrow; benefits vs. costs) differs within family firms, addressing the influence of the socio-emotional wealth (SEW) dimensions, individually or combined. We used empirical evidence gathered through 13 case studies of firms from the Andalusia region and we used the interpretative approach of the grounded theory based on case study data. Results of our analyses lead to propose that family firms with a higher identification and more positive than negative valence with regard to emotional attachment and family enrichment dimensions will be more likely to exhibit a broad approach of CSR. Likewise, those family firms adopting CSR actions with stakeholders due to instrumental use of image and reputation dimension will more probably display a benefits approach. JEL CLASSIFICATION: L26; M14

scholarly journals Generational brokerage: An intersubjective perspective on managing temporal orientations in family firm succession

2020 ◽  
pp. 147612702097697
Author(s):  
Vittoria Magrelli ◽  
Emanuela Rondi ◽  
Alfredo De Massis ◽  
Josip Kotlar
Keyword(s):  
Family Firms ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Family Firm ◽  
Mediation Process ◽  
Organizational Processes ◽  
Generation Family ◽  
Embedded Case Study ◽  
Intra Family

Interactions between family members of different generations often unleash powerful tensions in family firms. Intergenerational tensions can be particularly prominent during intra-family succession as a result of the different temporal orientations of senior and junior generation family members. However, scant systematic attention has thus far been paid to understanding the temporality of intergenerational tensions in family firms. Through an embedded case study, we explore the mediation process that helps family firms manage intergenerational tensions by way of temporal work. Our investigation of an advisory firm and its clients led us to identify generational brokerage as the intersubjective process through which temporal work enables generations toward the joint understanding of temporal orientations. Our theoretical insights have significant implications for developing a temporal view of succession and add novel important knowledge to research on mediation and time. Indeed, we show that generational brokerage is a dialectic construct with organizing properties able to blend disparate research streams by going beyond a unidirectional forward-flowing logic of time in examining organizational processes.

Family Firm Values Explaining Family Firm Heterogeneity

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine B. Rau ◽  
Viktoria Schneider-Siebke ◽  
Christina Günther
Keyword(s):  
Family Firms ◽  
Firm Behavior ◽  
Firm Heterogeneity ◽  
Family Firm ◽  
Future Research

Family firm heterogeneity results in reduced predictability of firm behavior as well as inconsistent results regarding research on family firm behavior. We argue that family firm heterogeneity is based, among other factors, on values heterogeneity. In order to lay the ground for future research, we develop a taxonomy of family firms based on values. Using values theory, we identify six value categories, resulting in five family firm types with five distinct value profiles. Second, we posit family firm values profiles are distinct to the group of family firms as nonfamily firms do not display similar value profiles.

Unmasking the Social Ghost in the Machine: How the Need to Belong and Family Business Potency Affect Family Firm Performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 351-371
Author(s):  
Nastaran Simarasl ◽  
David S. Jiang ◽  
Franz W. Kellermanns ◽  
Bart J. Debicki
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Family Business ◽  
Family Cohesion ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Firm Heterogeneity ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Family Firm ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Need To Belong ◽  
The Social

Research often assumes that a controlling family’s social bonds contributes to superior firm performance. However, there is little theory to address these relationships and findings are often mixed. Here, we integrate resource-based and need-to-belong theories to address these issues, introducing family business potency as a key mediating variable between family cohesion, participative strategy processes, and firm performance in 109 family firms. Altogether, our study answers ongoing theoretical calls for more need-based psychological research in family firms, introduces family business potency to the literature, and contributes to research on family firm heterogeneity. Implications for future research and practice are also discussed.

A Typology of Family Firms: An Investigation of Entrepreneurial Orientation and Performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura J. Stanley ◽  
Remedios Hernández-Linares ◽  
María Concepción López-Fernández ◽  
Franz W. Kellermanns
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Entrepreneurial Orientation ◽  
Latent Profile Analysis ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Firm Heterogeneity ◽  
Profile Analysis ◽  
Family Firm ◽  
Family Influence ◽  
Firm Life Cycle ◽  
And Performance

Drawing on family firm heterogeneity research, we develop a typology of family firms using differences in family influence and firm life cycle. We offer hypotheses regarding the relationships between the different firm types and two important outcomes: Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and performance. Applying latent profile analysis to a sample of 684 Spanish and Portuguese family firms using variables related to family influence (i.e., ownership, family CEO) and firm life cycle (i.e., generational management, size, and presence of board of directors), we find four family firm types, which differentially affect EO and performance. Implications of our findings for EO, family firm performance, and the development of family firm typologies are discussed.

scholarly journals High-performance work practices, socioemotional wealth preservation, and family firm labor productivity*

2021 ◽  
pp. 234094442110025
Author(s):  
Remedios Hernández-Linares ◽  
María Concepción López-Fernández ◽  
Esra Memili ◽  
Frank Mullins ◽  
Pankaj C Patel
Keyword(s):  
Labor Productivity ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Family Firm ◽  
Jel Classification ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Socioemotional Wealth ◽  
High Performance Work Practices ◽  
Research Gap

Despite growing research on the effect of high-performance work practices (HPWPs) on family firm performance, the implications of socioemotional wealth (SEW) preservation remain ambiguous. This stems from SEW preservation being used primarily as an explanatory construct and assessed indirectly rather than directly in empirical studies. To address this research gap, we draw upon organizational control and signaling theories to determine the “true” interaction between HPWPs and SEW preservation for labor productivity. Specifically, competing hypotheses are presented to determine if this interaction supports complementarity or substitutability. Using a sample of 124 Spanish family firms and a direct measurement of SEW preservation, our results provide support for substitutability, suggesting that family firms can realize higher labor productivity when HPWPs are fully implemented and commitment to SEW preservation is low, and vice versa. These findings have important implications for family firms, given HPWPs’ inverse relationship with SEW preservation regarding labor productivity. JEL CLASSIFICATION J24, L20, L21, L26, M12_M12, M54_M54, O15

scholarly journals Family constitution to manage family firms’ agency conflicts

2020 ◽  
pp. 234094442098044
Author(s):  
Pablo Rodriguez-Garcia ◽  
Susana Menéndez-Requejo
Keyword(s):  
Family Firms ◽  
Jel Classification ◽  
Agency Conflicts ◽  
Governance Mechanism ◽  
Agency Conflict ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Family Governance ◽  
Main Driver ◽  
Family Constitution

This research examines the effectiveness of Family Constitution or Family Protocol agreements in mitigating each type of agency conflict in family firms. We performed a qualitative analysis, through a case study, and found that the succession process is the main driver for implementing this family governance mechanism. Our findings also show that a family constitution is useful in reducing three of the four agency conflicts described in the literature, specifically between family owners and managers, between family shareholders, and with the family at large. Key agreements include training and experience terms for family members to join the firm, transfer clauses of shares inter-vivos and causa mortis, and the development of family governance bodies. However, creditors are generally unaware of the protocol’s existence, hindering its potential positive effects, which has important implications for practitioners. Creditors point out its potential usefulness as a hint of orderly and structured continuity of the business. JEL CLASSIFICATION G32, G34, L21, M10

CEO pay and family firm heterogeneity: A behavioral agency model perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 234094442110517
Author(s):  
Carlos Fernández Méndez ◽  
Rubén Arrondo García ◽  
Shams Pathan
Keyword(s):  
Family Firms ◽  
Firm Heterogeneity ◽  
Jel Classification ◽  
Agency Model ◽  
Family Control ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Top Executives ◽  
Pay Disparity ◽  
Ceo Pay ◽  
Behavioral Agency

We study the effects of family control on CEO pay from the perspective of behavioral agency model (BAM), with particular focus on family firm’s generational stage and CEO family ties. Using a panel of Australian listed firms, we find that family firms present lower total and variable CEO pay, showing also less pay disparity between the CEO and other top executives. We also find that multi-generational family firms and those run by non-family CEOs offer higher total and variable CEO pay and present high pay disparity. The BAM and family’s aversion to socioemotional wealth loss can explain the effects of family control based on the pursuing of non-financial family goals. The decline of these goals derived from the aging of the firm and the hiring of external CEOs shape family control and should be considered in the design of executive compensation policies and by external parties when assessing their suitability. JEL CLASSIFICATION: G30; G32; G34; G38

Advice-seeking process in family businesses: a qualitative study

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleš Kubíček ◽  
Lucie Dofkova ◽  
Ondřej Machek
Keyword(s):  
Family Business ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Professional Associations ◽  
Family Firm ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Advice Seeking ◽  
External Sources

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the process of seeking advice in family firms.Design/methodology/approachExploratory multiple case study design was employed to examine how family firm owners use various sources of advice. The analysis is based on data collected from semi-structured interviews with six Czech family business owners.FindingsThe case study analysis shows that family business owners first seek advice among those family members who work in the family firm. Subsequently, they approach internal or external sources with whom they have a specific relationship (management and key employees, peers and professional associations). Only when these sources do not provide adequate results, external advisors are approached. However, if the advice required a specific knowledge or certification, external advisors may be approached in the first place.Originality/valueBased on the qualitative data analysis, we developed a model of the advice-seeking process. Since the theoretical “how” of the advising process in family firms is still underresearched, this study presents theoretical extensions as well as practical implications.

scholarly journals How family firms execute open innovation strategies: the Loccioni case

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1459-1485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Casprini ◽  
Alfredo De Massis ◽  
Alberto Di Minin ◽  
Federico Frattini ◽  
Andrea Piccaluga
Keyword(s):  
Open Innovation ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Family Firm ◽  
Innovation Strategy ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Transfer Of Knowledge ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovation Strategies ◽  
Innovation Processes

Purpose This paper aims to shed light on how family firms execute open innovation strategies by managing internal and external knowledge flows. Design/methodology/approach First, through a comprehensive literature review, the paper identifies the barriers to the acquisition and transfer of knowledge in open innovation processes. Second, it presents and discusses the results of an exploratory case study on Loccioni, an Italian family firm providing high-tech measurement solutions, highlighting how this family firm managed to overcome the barriers in executing an open innovation strategy. Findings The case study shows that Loccioni faced specific challenges in acquiring and transferring knowledge in its open innovation processes and developed two idiosyncratic capabilities – labelled imprinting and fraternization – that helped the firm overcome the barriers to knowledge acquisition and transfer. The analysis shows that these two capabilities are enabled by the distinctive goals and social capital characterizing family firms. Originality/value The paper creates a link between open innovation and family business research with an empirically grounded model illustrating how the idiosyncratic capabilities of a family firm help overcome the critical barriers to the acquisition and transfer of knowledge in executing an open innovation strategy.

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