The Influence of Socio-Emotional Wealth on the Speed of the Export Development Proces in Family and Non-Family Firms

This paper proposes that family firms do not necessarily internationalize less than non-family businesses, but rather, they do it more slowly. Lower speed of internationalization process of family business (measured by the speed of the export development process) is a consequence of the role of the socio-emotional wealth (SEW) in these firms. SEW operates through three different mechanisms: (1) long-term orientation, (2) risk avoidance, and (3) lack of resources to be independent. The empirical research, based on a panel of more than a thousand Spanish manufacturing firms along nine years (2006-2014), supports the hypothesis proposed, independently of firm’s previous size, age, and export commitment level.

Las capacidades directivas en la empresa familiar turística: ¿Es la profesionalización la clave para su desarrollo?

Este trabajo tiene como principal objetivo analizar los elementos de la particular estructura de gobierno de la empresa familiar y la implicación de la familia en el negocio con tal de comprobar sus efectos sobre las capacidades directivas. Asimismo, se estudiará la profesionalización en este tipo de empresas como variable moderadora. Para abordar este análisis, se tomarán como base el Enfoque Basado en Recursos y Capacidades y la Teoría de la Agencia. El estudio empírico se lleva a cabo sobre una base de 591 empresas turísticas españolas mediante un análisis de regresión lineal múltiple. Los resultados demuestran que muchas de las características peculiares de la empresa familiar ejercen un efecto negativo sobre sus capacidades directivas, impidiendo su correcto desarrollo. Sin embargo, la profesionalización del máximo responsable de la empresa familiar contribuiría a paliar dichos problemas, facilitando el desarrollo de dichas capacidades en la empresa familiar.

Reacting to a Generalised Crisis. A Theoretical Approach to the Consumption of Slack Resources in Family Firms

Research to date has shown that companies can accumulate resources over those strictly needed in order to overcome the uncertainty associated to a crisis. But the usage, redeployment, or consumption of this excess of resources when facing an adverse environment is yet underexplored. As suggested by the literature, the condition of family business can exert an important effect in such behaviour. This paper proposes a theoretical framework, focused on family business, about how firms manage the different slack resources when facing a general crisis. We make a call on family business scholars to leverage our propositions and the existing literature on slack resources to develop a guidance for family owners when facing an economic downturn.

Family and Non-Family Businesses in Iran: Coupling among Innovation, Internationalization and Growth-Expectation

Gallo and Sveen, in 1991, specified problems of whether family businesses can take advantage of factors facilitating internationalization. We compare family and non-family businesses in innovation, export, and growth-expectation, and consider how outcomes are aligned, with a coupling that may be loose, with a synergy that benefits the business. This raises a further issue, is governance of a business affecting not only each of the outcomes but also their coupling. A representative sample of 530 Iranian businesses was surveyed in 2018 for Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. Innovation, export, and growth-expectation are found to be lower in family businesses. Coupling between innovation and export, and also between export and growth-expectation, are found to be looser in family businesses. - Findings suggest that coupling among performance outcomes in family businesses can feasibly be tightened, thereby reinforcing performance. The findings contribute to understanding the performance endeavors of family businesses as problematized by Gallo and Sveen.

Comparison of Family Business Supply Chain Integration of International and Non-International Food Industry Sector of Michoacán

The purpose of this research is to compare the integration of the supply chain of international family businesses with the integration of the supply chain of non-international family businesses in the food sector of Michoacán, Mexico, in order to analyze whether there are differences between the relationship of companies with their suppliers and customers given the international context. The supply chain integration is measured through the methodology of arcs of integration, to graphically represent the integration towards suppliers or customers, illustrated through an arc. The measurement instrument was applied to 93 family food manufacturing companies, of which only 14 companies participate in the international market. Statistics such as ANOVA is used to analyze the data and obtain valid results. The study determined that the internationalization of the family business contributes significantly to the integration of the supply chain in terms of suppliers, but not in terms of customers.

The Role of Family Management and Management Control Systems in Promoting Technological Innovation in Family SMEs

This paper seeks to resolve the controversy regarding the relationship between family management and technological innovation outcomes. In contrast to prior studies, we focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and go beyond the traditional input-output statistical analysis, by introducing the mediating effect of the use of management control systems (MCS). We also further examine heterogeneity among family firms, studying whether a greater family management influences, directly or indirectly, on technological innovation outcomes. Our results from a data consists of 199 Spanish family-owned small and medium enterprises (FSMEs) were not able to indicate a significant direct influence of the level of family management on technological innovation outcome but supported the notion that the utilization of MCS mediated the above relationship.

The Competitive Advantages of Multi-Family Offices over Banks in Serving Wealthy Clients in Poland

In Poland, the main players in serving wealthy clients are banks. Nevertheless, the number of multi-family offices (MFOs) has increased notably, raising questions whether they can become real competitors to the private banking divisions. Therefore, an analysis of the activity profile of multi-family offices and private banking in Poland was conducted. Additionally, a survey of multi-family offices enabled the evaluation of their perceived competitive positions. The level of development of MFOs in Poland is low and their market is in its infancy. MFOs operating in Poland are, however, considerably more flexible than banks operating in the field of private banking.

The Role of Family Firms Heterogeneity on the Internationalisation and Performance Relationship

Many papers have addressed the influence of different characteristics of family businesses on strategic decisions, including those of internationalisation. However, little is known about the relationship between the internationalization of family firms and firm profitability. For this reason, from the socioemotional wealth perspective, in this paper, we focus on the moderating role of some heterogeneous characteristics of family firms on the relationship between internationalisation and business performance. Specifically, we analyse a sample of 76 companies belonging to the Spanish hotel industry, one of the most internationalised sectors and with a large presence of family businesses. The results show that family involvement in ownership and management, as well as generation, moderates the relationship between internationalisation and profitability in the Spanish hotel industry.

International Business Decision-Making in Family Small and-Medium-Sized Enterprises

Family firm internationalization has become a topic of interest over the last few decades. However, there has been surprisingly little research about the actual international business decision-making in the family firm literature. The purpose of this article is to highlight specific family firm factors which affect the international business decision-making. Based on examples on international market entry, target market choice, entry mode choice, and entry timing decisions, it is suggested that long-term and regional orientation, knowledge-base and its transfer, bifurcation-bias, and perseverance of family managers are important factors affecting international business decision-making among family SMEs.