Implications of Intra-Family and External Ownership Transfer Of Family Firms: Short Term and Long Term Performance

We contrast the performance consequences of intra-family vs. external ownership transfers. Investigating a sample of all private family firms in Sweden that went through ownership transfers during ten years, we find family firms transferred to external owners outperforming those transferred within the family, but that survival is higher among intra-family transfers. We attribute these performance differences to the long-term orientation of family firms passed on to the next generation and to the entrepreneurial willingness of acquirers to bear uncertainty. Based on distinct ownership transition routes and theoretical mechanisms explaining performance differences, we outline implications for family business and entrepreneurship research.long-term orientation; succession; ownership transfer; family firms; performance

Succession in Private Firms as an Entrepreneurial Process – A Review and Suggestions of New Research avenues

In considering firm succession as the acts of both entrepreneurial exit and entry, this paper adds to work that seeks to integrate entrepreneurship and family business research. We provide a comprehensive literature review of succession research over the past 35 years and identify seven thematical clusters within which succession can be understood as a distinct part of the entrepreneurial process, and three areas of particular interest for future research seeking to advance the literatures on entrepreneurship, family firms, and governance in private firms. The paper explores theoretical, conceptual, and methodological ways of integrating these findings into the research on entrepreneurship and family business.Family firms; Succession; Entrepreneurship

Qualitative research practices and family business scholarship:a review and future research agenda

In spite of various calls for a wider application of qualitative research in the family business field, it is our contention that the full potential of qualitative inquiry is not being fully realized. Part of the reason for this relates to the tendency to promote methods choice and diversity rather than addressing the foundational questions and processes which underlie qualitative research choices. These tendencies obscure attention to the reasons why researchers choose qualitative methods and the kinds of foundational issues about family businesses that are brought to light through qualitative research. To address this, we undertake an analysis of the most-cited articles using qualitative methods from an annotated bibliography of family business studies. From this, we identify the strengths and weaknesses of extant qualitative studies in family business research and argue for the need to re-orientate calls in family business research towards the foundational questions (rather than methods) that underline qualitative inquiry

Board leadership and strategy involvement in small firms: a team production approach

"Research Question/Issue: Boards' involvement in strategy is generally seen to be an indicator of board effectiveness but less is known about the relationship between board leadership and strategy involvement, especially in small firms. This study analyses board leadership from a team production perspective as an antecedent to board strategy involvement in small firms. Research Findings/Insights: Using survey data from 140 small firms in Norway collected in two different time periods, we demonstrate that leadership behaviors and processes have a greater impact on boards' strategy involvement than structural leadership characteristics alone. Theoretical/ Academic Implications: The study provides empirical support for a team production perspective on boards. Our data show that: 1) board members' knowledge, board development and board chairperson leadership efficacy positively influence boards' strategy involvement, and 2) chairperson leadership efficacy enhances boards’ strategy involvement under structural conditions of combined CEO/ chairperson leadership and changes in board composition. These findings expand the traditional understanding of structural leadership conditions. Practitioner/ Policy Implications: The study offers insights to small business owners and managers on how to improve the strategy involvement of boards. For policy makers, the study has implications for the content of codes of good governance practice relevant to small firms, specifically in relation to board development initiatives and board evaluations." (author's abstract

An exploration of women entrepreneurs “doing context” in family business in the Gulf States

Purpose Drawing on indigenous theory of Ibn Khaldun, the rise and fall of States, this paper explores the agency of women entrepreneurs in family business in Bahrain and the underlying enablers in supporting and facilitating the exercise of this agency. This study attempts to move beyond the Western-centric studies to reflect and bring to light the unique institutional settings of the Gulf States. Design/methodology/approach The research builds on a rich qualitative single case of a family business based in Bahrain. The single case study methodology was motivated by the potential for generating rich contextual insights. Such an approach is particularly valuable to gain a more holistic and deeper understanding of the contextualized phenomenon and its complexity. Findings In this study the authors show how women entrepreneurs take two different paths to enter and become involved in the family business, the barriers they are subjected to and the active role they play in dismantling the challenges to the extent that they become the main mediators between the family business and central institutions in society. Originality/value By incorporating indigenous theory with Western family business concepts, the study extends existing understanding of women entrepreneurs in family business by underscoring the agency that women entrepreneurs have in “doing context” and the role that women play in strengthening common cause and destiny within the family and the business by building and drawing on different forms of loyalty

Entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector: a literature review and future research opportunities

Heeding calls for contextualizing entrepreneurship research and for greater attention to the role of sector in entrepreneurship research, we conduct a systematic literature review of extant research in agricultural entrepreneurship. Recent and rapid vertical integration and rationalization within the agricultural sector provides a dynamic setting for scholars to investigate entrepreneurship theory and practice. We identify three key contextual dimensions of the agricultural sector: identity, family, and institutions, which provide promising opportunities for future research and the potential to contribute to and extend current theoretical and empirical analyses of entrepreneurship research

Dynamic capabilities and trans-generational value creation in family firms: The role of organizational culture

While some research on entrepreneurship in family businesses has focused on transgenerational value creation, a gap exists in understanding how such value is generated across generations. The present research offers insights through the lens of dynamic capabilities, which are created by knowledge and in turn generate entrepreneurial performance and value creation. A model is built based on literature and case research. The crucial role of the organizational culture emerges through the empirical study. Family inertia is considered to be a factor preventing the creation of dynamic capabilities. We find that family inertia depends on characteristics of the family business culture, where paternalism and entrepreneurial orientation influence family inertia positively and negatively, respectively. Family firms from Switzerland and Italy active in the beverage industry represent the empirical context. Theoretical and practical implications are offered