Understanding the antecedents of family influence in the family firm

PurposeWhat makes family influence so influential in the family firm? Time and again, research studies point to family influence as a factor that significantly impacts decision-making in the family business, thus highlighting the need to investigate the variables which cause family influence to be so powerful. The purpose of this study is to explore the construct of family influence in the family firm, under an integrative lens that combines insights from Institutional Theory and the Resource-Based View.Design/methodology/approachThe quantitative approach was used using a 35-item survey measuring 6 constructs, where data collection yielded a total of 206 completed surveys included in the data analysis. Data were analyzed using SmartPLS (3.0) and results were appropriately reported.FindingsThe findings of this study propose that the two theoretical perspectives can be useful in explaining how various factors are able to intensify family influence on strategic family firm decisions like internationalization. Specifically, the lack of resources, government support, managerial knowledge and capability in foreign markets represent serious barriers that render the family firm more reliant on and subjected to family influence. Similarly, informal institutions like the fear of failure in foreign markets and uncertainty avoidance often make the family firm more dependent on, and accepting of, family influence.Originality/valueThe path analysis undertaken in this study has empirically depicted how resource-related and institution-based forces can together augment the effects of “family influence,” making it a more powerful and prohibitive factor in the internationalization decision, thus offering an insightful interpretation of these results and valuable practical and theoretical implications.

A qualitative exploration of the media's influence on UK women's views of breastfeeding

Background In the UK, rates of exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months are at 1%, highlighting the need to encourage and improve the support provided to women to initiate and continue breastfeeding and to improve infant and maternal health. This study aimed to qualitatively explore the influence of media on the intention to initiate and continue breastfeeding. Methods This ethnographic study recruited 40 women; 31 with children and nine of childbearing age (19–28 years), with the intention to have children. Data were collected with semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. Results Five themes associated with sociocultural influences on breastfeeding perceptions and behaviour were identified: family influence, privacy, media as a double-edged sword, negative exposure to breastfeeding and planned behaviour versus experience. Conclusions Media influences strengthened preconceived notions of breastfeeding. Social media can play an important role in maintaining breastfeeding though support but can also put undue negative pressure on mothers who struggle to breastfeed.

Strategic Behavior in Family Firms

Previous research emphasizes that the participation of the family in business operations is the source of resources and capabilities that conditions the strategic behavior of the family firm. This influence has been recognized as “familiness.” However, this definition is contextualized from static reasoning that ignores the effect of family dynamics on the behavior and value generation of the family-owned business. Prior literature has recognized that the family influence has a dynamic character based on the idiosyncratic process of knowledge management that manifests itself in the company, dynamic familiness. This family capability is shaped by family organizational routines through the family influence and aims to increase its knowledge portfolios for the strategic use of its resources. This chapter addresses the relationship between family influence and the process of learning and knowledge management. The analysis of this relationship allows assessing how family influence can promote the generation of family organizational routines based on knowledge management processes.

From the Periphery to the Center: Young People's Agonistic Pathways Towards Higher Education

The present research analyzes the mobilities of young people from the periphery of Rio de Janeiro towards a renowned university situated in a central region of the city. Focusing on a case study with four students, we carried out an in-depth investigation of the dynamics of their professional trajectories. Their personal identifications and values, their future career expectations and the pressures and the demands of attending such a university were investigated. Three focus groups meetings were organized with these students. The results show that the displacement from home to the university, social and racial segregation, and arduous academic demands are factors that pose enormous difficulties to these students and require intense psychological work on their part to persist in their educational investment. Intense conflicts with regards to living up to their ideals characterize an agonistic pathway in their educational endeavor. On the other hand, the prestige of the university, family influence and the belief in upward social mobility were found to support these young people’s decision not to give up. This contradictory dynamic, riddled with uncertainties, mobilizes these young people to find a way to permanently renovate their personal stakes in higher education.

Entrepreneurial Orientation and Family Influence Factors for Sustainable Small Business

This chapter addresses the issue of sustainability in small family firms, considering the relation between entrepreneurial orientation and family influence factors. The literature describes positive links between small firms and sustainability outlining their power in spreading good practices. Furthermore, the role of family is crucial to strengthen such intrinsic links. The aim of this study is to first demonstrate the influence that family factors play on entrepreneurial orientation and, second, highlight how factors and orientations shape small family firms' sustainable approach. The study employs a case-based method, illustrating a peculiar case: the leading Italian small family-owned craft beer producer Baladin. It provides fertile ground for the development of functioning as a learning process and being replicable in smaller firms. It also highlights the relevance of family culture even when an entrepreneur engages in a countertrend against his usual family path, by undermining the traditional family business but maintaining a local commitment to sustainable outcomes.

Corporate Governance and Financial Features of Portuguese Family Firms

This study analyses whether corporate governance and financial features of private family firms are different from private non-family firms and discusses the role of private family firms in regional economic development. The evidence is drawn from a database of Portuguese private family owner-managed firms in order to determine the differences in the management and experiences of venture capital and other financing options. The main results demonstrated that family firms have significantly lower ratios of leverage, are less interested in venture capital, have much more experience in management and are less likely to be female than those in non-family firms. Our results indicate that the financial development of Portuguese private family firms is also consistent with the moderate tenet of family firms which could hamper their business growth and demonstrate that corporate governance features assist the family identity and the ability to exert family influence.

Joseph's Personal Spirituality and Adversity Quotient Based on Genesis 37-50: A Content Analysis of Literature

Success is everyone's dream, but not a few people retreat and even fail because they are not ready to face the process of achieving that success. Joseph is the son who is dearest to his father, but this makes his brother hate him. Joseph is a character in the Bible, and Joseph realized that all the thoughts of his brothers, all the difficulties he experienced, were solely in God's design, and God had a good purpose in the difficulties he experienced. In a sense, Joseph's personal spirituality determines how he can have an adversity quotient so that Joseph became a tough person in facing all the challenges of his life. This study aims to analyze personal spirituality and adversity quotient. The research method used is content analysis. Research questions: what is the relationship between personal spirituality and Adversity Quotient? and to what extent can personal spirituality make someone strong in AQ? The result showed that personal spirituality and adversity quotient is related to one another. Based on the text analysis, it was found that the relationship between personal spirituality and adversity quotient on content: personal spirituality that comes from family influence, personal spirituality that comes from character, Joseph's spirituality in facing challenges (family, female, wealth and power), and personal spirituality in the knowledge of God and understanding His plan thus forming his adversity quotient.

The Impact of Future Economic Stability and Family Influence on Students’ Motivation for Higher Education: A Study on IIUM Students

This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between future economic stability (FES), family influence (FI) and students’ motivation for higher education (MFHE) based on the perceptions of undergraduate students in IIUM. The questionnaire used was self-developed and piloted with 263 undergraduate students, who were sampled purposely. Content validity, construct validity and – the Cronbach’s alpha for reliability were conducted to validate the instrument. SPSS V25 was used to analyze the data by manipulating the descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings from data analysis indicated that IIUM students held positive perception towards FES, FI and MFHE. The results also revealed a positive and significant relationship between FES, FI and MFHE, and that FES and FI were found to be significant predictors of MFHE. As an implication, higher education institutions as well as parents are urged to support their wards in terms of employment opportunities and continuous parental support, as the impact of future economic stability and family influence have been confirmed in this study as part of the reasons behind students’ motivation for higher education learning.

The Association Between Sports, Body Image, and Eating Disorders of Males Teens at Eastside Catholic

In the past 25 years, the number of males who are dissatisfied with their bodies increased threefold. This is prevalent especially in the athletic field, where different physique expectations are closely associated with performance. Heightened focus on dietary rules and fitness level cause males to struggle with body dissatisfaction and shame and increase the risk of them developing eating disorders (ED), some of which are the most fatal mental illnesses. Many disordered eating behaviors stem from negative self-perceptions, which start to develop as early as the beginning of grade school and intensifies during pubertal development. However, most studies that examine this issue either looks at female college athletes who have a heavy exercise load and pressure from society on their physiques or focuses on social factors of peer pressure, family influence, and beauty standard. Therefore, it is imperative to determine whether sports participation is positively correlated with the rapidly growing rate of body image issues and ED symptoms in adolescent boys to help address them promptly and prevent severe and lasting damages. This quantitative case study conducted on male teens at Eastside Catholic High School (ECHS) found positive correlations between aesthetic/strength sports, body image issues, and higher ED risks, suggesting that athletic involvement plays a greater role in a person’s physical perception and mental health than body weight does. The conclusions inform education institutions and guardians of the more effective way to detect male adolescents’ body image issues and eating disorder symptoms, helping to prevent or alleviate mental illnesses.

Linkages Between Indigenous Cultural Generativity and Sobriety to Promote Successful Aging Among Alaska Natives

This article builds on the People Awakening Project, which explored an AlaskaNative understanding of the recovery process from alcohol use disorder and sobriety. The presentation will explore motivating and maintenance factors for sobriety among older AN adult participants (age 50+) from across Alaska. Ten life history narratives of Alaska Native older adults, representing Alutiiq, Athabascan, Tlingit, Yup’ik/Cup’ik Eskimos, from the PA sample were explored using thematic analysis. AN older adults are motivated to abstain from, or to quit drinking alcohol through spirituality, family influence, role socialization and others’ role modeling, and a desire to engage in indigenous cultural generative activities with their family and community. A desire to pass on their accumulated wisdom to a younger generation through engagement and sharing of culturally grounded activities and values, or indigenous cultural generativity, is a central unifying motivational and maintenance factor for sobriety. The implications of this research indicates that family, role expectations and socialization, desire for community and culture engagement, and spirituality are central features to both Alaska Native Elders’ understanding of sobriety, and more broadly, to their successful aging. Sobriety can put older Alaska Native adults on a pathway to successful aging, in positions to serve as role models for their family and community, where they are provided opportunities to engage in meaningful indigenous cultural generative acts.