Más allá del dinero: Riqueza y bienestar de la familia empresaria

This article offers a conceptual discussion about the relationship between wealth and wellbeing of the business family. It provides a psychological perspective on ownership that explains the effect of wealth on individual and collective dimensions relevant to business families, namely psychological ownership, socioemotional wealth, and ownership competences. The study provides an integrative framework and offers propositions that illustrate the theoretical and practical implications of the model as regards the relationship between wealth and wellbeing of the business family.Este artículo ofrece un debate conceptual sobre la relación entre riqueza y bienestar de la familia empresaria. El mismo aporta una perspectiva psicológica de la propiedad, lo que permite explicar el efecto de esta riqueza en dimensiones individuales y colectivas relevantes para las familias empresarias, a saber, la propiedad psicológica, la riqueza socioemocional y las competencias vinculadas a la propiedad. El estudio proporciona un marco integrador y ofrece proposiciones que ilustran las implicaciones teóricas y prácticas de este modelo en lo que se refiere a la relación entre riqueza y bienestar de la familia empresaria

Hierarchical dyadic congruence in family firms:The interplay of supervisor and supervisee socioemotional wealth importance and familial status

We extend McLarty, Vardaman, and Barnett’s analysis of how family firm supervisor attributes, in terms of familial status and socioemotional wealth importance, affect supervisee performance by considering the supervisee attributes. We further integrate the concept of restricted and generalized social exchange to provide a theoretical basis for how hierarchical dyadic (in)congruence moderates the relationship between supervisee commitment and performance. By providing a more fine-grained conceptualization, we contribute to the family business literature at its organization behavior interface

The impact of family involvement on SMEs performance:theory and evidence

By complementing agency theory with behavioral assumptions, we explore the effects of family involvement on SMEs’ performance. We identify three separate dimensions of family involvement and hypothesize non-linear, direct and interaction effects on the performance of an SME. The evidence on 787 SMEs suggests that an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between family ownership and performance, and ownership dispersion among family members negatively affects performance. Balancing family and non-family members in the TMT is found to be beneficial to SMEs’ performance, but the family ratio in the TMT becomes crucial only at high levels of family ownership

Family involvement and corporate social responsibility in small- and medium-sized family firms

Abstract This study investigates how family involvement affects engagement of private small- and medium-sized family firms in corporate social responsibility. We draw on reputation and self-interest arguments to hypothesize and test the effects of degree of family ownership, intra-family ownership dispersion, and family generation in control on firm engagement in corporate social responsibility. Using survey data collected from a sample of 136 Italian small- and medium-sized family firms, we find support for our hypotheses and underlying contention that family involvement matters, as CSR engagement decreases if a higher percentage of shares is owned by the family, ownership is dispersed among a higher number of family members, as well as later-generations control the business. We conclude by discussing the study’s implications for theory and practice, limitations, and future research directions

Daughters’ careers in family business:Motivation types and family-specific barriers

The underrepresentation of women in high-level management positions in family firms has been traditionally imputed to gender barriers, which might be specific or non-specific to family firms. Leveraging the complementarity between qualitative and quantitative data and applying Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), we find that family-specific barriers are intertwined with three types of motivation, i.e., extrinsic, intrinsic, and ethical, to predict the presence of daughters in high positions in family businesses. Three clusters have been accordingly identified, namely “no barriers”, “challengers”, and “rational”, offering alternative configurations of anthropological motivations and perceived family-specific barriers leading daughters to high positions

They Are Not All the Same!:Investigating the Effect of Executive versus Non-executive Family Board Members on Firm Performance

Drawing on faultlines and challenging the assumption that family board members form a homogenous subgroup, we hypothesize that the distinction between executive and non-executive family board members can create faultlines that affect firm performance. We propose that the discrepancy between results and goals can activate and exacerbate faultlines. Using a sample of 421 family small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we find a U-shaped relationship between the ratio of family executive board members and firm performance showing the consequences of relationship-based and task-related faultlines. Moreover, we find that the U-shaped relationship occurs when firms perceive that they under-achieve their objectives, whereas a reverse J-shaped relationship appears when firms over-achieve their objectives

Beyond agency and stewardship theory:shareholder–manager relationships and governance structures in family firms

Purpose: Challenging the static view of family business governance, we propose a model of owner–manager relationships derived from the configurational analysis of managerial behavior and change in governance structure. Design/methodology/approach: Stemming from social exchange theory and building on the 4C model proposed by Miller and Le Breton-Miller (2005), we consider the evolving owner–manager relationship in four main configurations. On the one hand, we account for family businesses shifting from a generalized to a restricted exchange system, and vice versa, according to whether a family manager misbehaves in a stewardship-oriented governance structure or a nonfamily manager succeeds in building a trusting relationship in an agency-oriented governance structure. On the other hand, we consider that family firms will strengthen a generalized exchange system, rather than a restricted one, according to whether a family manager contributes to the stewardship-oriented culture in the business or a nonfamily manager proves to be driven by extrinsic rewards. Four scenarios are analyzed in terms of the managerial behavior and governance structure that characterize the phases of the relationship between owners and managers. Findings: Various factors trigger managerial behavior, making the firm deviate from or further build on what is assumed by stewardship and agency theories (i.e. proorganizational versus opportunistic behavior, respectively), which determine the governance structure over time. Workplace deviance, asymmetric altruism and patriarchy on the one hand, and proorganizational behavior, relationship building and long-term commitment on the other, are found to determine how the manager behaves and thus characterize the owner's reactions in terms of governance mechanisms. This enables us to present a dynamic view of governance structures, which adapt to the actual attitudes and behaviors of employed managers. Research limitations/implications: As time is a relevant dimension affecting individual behavior and triggering change in an organization, one must consider family business governance as being dynamic in nature. Moreover, it is not family membership that determines the most appropriate governance structure but the owner–manager relationship that evolves over time, thus contributing to the 4C model. Originality/value: The proposed model integrates social exchange theory and the 4C model to predict changes in governance structure, as summarized in the final framework we propose

The Impact of Politically Connected CEOs and Boards of Directors on Firm Performance:A Study of Vietnamese Family and Nonfamily Firms

Integrating new institutional economics and resource dependence theory, this study investigates whether in transition economies, characterized by shifting from centrally commanded to more market-oriented economies, there are performance differences among family firms (FFs), nonfamily firms (non-FFs), and former state-owned enterprises (former SOEs), and whether political connections affect these differences. Our findings suggest that FFs outperform non-FFs and former SOEs, unless non-FFs have politically connected CEOs. The performance gap in favor of FFs increases at high levels of board political connection intensity. Among FFs, the top-performing ones either promote nonfamily leadership or combine family leadership with politically connected boards of directors

Temperature profile of ex-vivo organs during radio frequency thermal ablation by fiber Bragg gratings.

We report on the integration of fiber optic sensors with commercial medical instrumentation for temperature monitoring during radio frequency ablation for tumor treatment. A suitable configuration with five fiber Bragg grating sensors bonded to a bipolar radio frequency (RF) probe has been developed to monitor the area under treatment. A series of experiments were conducted on ex-vivo animal kidney and liver and the results confirm that we were able to make a multipoint measurement and to develop a real-time temperature profile of the area, with a temperature resolution of 0.1°C and a spatial resolution of 5 mm during a series of different and consecutive RF discharges

Values, Spirituality and Religion:Family Business and the Roots of Sustainable Ethical Behavior

The inclusion of morally binding values such as religious—or in a broader sense, spiritual—values fundamentally alter organizational decision-making and ethical behavior. Family firms, being a particularly value-driven type of organization, provide ample room for religious beliefs to affect family, business, and individual decisions. The influence that the owning family is able to exert on value formation and preservation in the family business makes religious family firms an incubator for value-driven and faith-led decision-making and behavior. They represent a particularly rich and relevant context to re-assess the relationship between ethical beliefs, decision-making processes and behaviors in business organizations at the interface between family and professional logics. This Special Issue is dedicated to deepening our understanding of the role religious values and spirituality play in the formation of organizational ethical practices in faith-led family firms and resulting organizational and family-related outcomes. In this editorial, we introduce the 10 papers included in this Special Issue, which investigate the relationship between religion or spirituality and family firm ethical behavior in various geographical, cultural and religious contexts, using a multitude of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. By focusing on the effects of religious or spiritual orientations on both the business and the family, as well as on the values, norms and goals present in the family business system, further research can gain a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between religious and spiritual believes, and sustainable ethical behavior in family firms