Chairpersons’ hubris and internationalization: evidence from emerging market’s family business groups

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the association between chairperson hubris and the internationalization of firms belonging to business groups in an emerging market, India, under the boundary conditions of business group internationalization and the tenure of independent board members. Design/methodology/approachArchival data of 163 Indian family firms over a five-year period were used. FindingsThe study highlights the significance of chairperson hubris in determining the internationalization of family firms in India and the influence that business group internationalization and the tenure of independent board members have on the chairperson hubris and firm internationalization relationships. Originality/valueAlthough literature exists on drivers of internationalization, micro-foundations theories such as chairperson hubris have been less explored in the international business literature, especially in the context of emerging markets. Contribution to Impact

Emerging Market Multinational Family Business Groups and the Use of Family Managers in Foreign Subsidiaries

Little is known about the internationalization behavior of Emerging Market Family Business Groups (EFBGs) and their strategic usage of family managers in foreign subsidiaries facing uncertainty due to institutional differences. Informed by the resource-based view of the firm and by institutional theory, we hypothesize that family managers are an EFBGs-specific resource used to mitigate institutional uncertainty caused by larger institutional distances occurring between home and host countries. Moreover, family managers are used differently depending on the regional focus of the EFBGs, which further strengthens the critical role that family manager’s play in management and control across the business groups. We employ 5-year panel data on Taiwanese EFBGs, and our results indicate that family managers tend to be assigned by EFBGs with stronger operations outside the home region, and in foreign subsidiaries where strong differences in regulative and cognitive institution may exist. We contribute to the continuing understanding of family ownership in the management of EFBGs, and the research of internationalization of firms on managing foreign subsidiaries.

Auditor Appointment Strategy and Intragroup Value Transfers: Evidence From Family Business Groups

Family business groups (FBGs) typically control several member firms and can hire a single auditor or multiple auditors to audit their member firms. This article examines what type of auditor appointment strategy constrains intragroup value transfers within FBGs. Analyzing related-party transactions (RPTs) within FBGs in Hong Kong, this study provides evidence that FBGs with multiple auditors undertake more intragroup value transfers than FBGs with a single auditor. However, the adverse effect of multiple-auditor appointments is mitigated by a stronger board and higher financial reporting comparability among member firms. Using an alternative measure of intragroup value transfers, we also find that the market perceives multiple-auditor appointments as impairing audit effectiveness. Overall, our findings offer the new insight that controlling families can exploit the appointment of multiple auditors as a “divide and conquer” strategy which undermines the monitoring role of auditors against intragroup value transfers, but stronger corporate governance of member firms can mitigate the adverse effect.

OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE OF FAMILY BUSINESS GROUPS

This study seeks to analyze the relationship between the ownership structure of Family Business Groups and the institutional environment. Family Business Groups prevail in emerging countries as diverse organizational structures that aggregate various companies under the control of a family or a reduced number of people. This economically relevant structure is responsible for a significant share of countries' Gross Domestic Product and frequently congregates the largest private companies in their respective countries. Institutional reforms have been implemented in emerging economies in order to support the integration of other nations from a trade perspective. This paper contributes to the literature by developing propositions on the effect of institutional reforms on the ownership structure of Family Business Groups.

Identifying territory-linked family business groups: a methodological proposal

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to design a methodology to identify territory-linked family business groups (TLFBGs) in order to overcome the methodological challenges and ease studies about family business groups' (FBGs) impact on territories.Design/methodology/approachThe paper applied an algorithm to a data set of firms located in Gipuzkoa that were registered in the SABI database in 2018.FindingsThe paper defined a new construct, TLFBGs, and proposed a methodology that automatized the identification of TLFBGs by a seven-stage algorithm that was intended to be applicable to any firm-level economic and financial data set, including all registered firms and not only listed firms.Practical implicationsTLFBGs unveil the real relevance that family businesses have in the territorial development, encouraging the political support to family business. Additionally, the methodology provided allows understanding growth processes of family business.Originality/valueThe paper defines a new construct, TLFBGs, that highlights both the underexplored links existing between family and territory and between family and business groups, providing the process and criteria to capture it. The paper opens up large-scale empirical research on the social (and economic) influence of TLFBGs in territorial development.