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Deconstructing Socioemotional Wealth
Abstract
There have appeared of late numerous important articles elaborating on and researching the concept of socioemotional wealth, within the last year in Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, others published in journals ranging from Administrative Science Quarterly to Family Business Review. Given the increasing popularity and generality of the concept, it is perhaps worth revisiting it to assess its potential for enhancing our understanding of family firms. We shall examine the socioemotional wealth concept and the challenges it poses for esearchers, and propose some conceptual and methodological notions for increasing its utility.
... However, family firms encounter severe external financing constraints and a shortage of specialized talent (Anderson & Reeb, 2004;Amit, Ding, Villalonga, & Zhang, 2015). Robot adoption necessitates dependence on external investment, which prompts external investors to impose supervision requirements on corporate strategy, capital utilization and management, thereby posing a threat to family control (Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2014). Given the distinctive nature of family firms in terms of intergenerational inheritance direction (Burkart et al., 2003), they consistently strive to expand their business scope and enhance their professional level. ...
... This protects the interests of stakeholders in family firms to the greatest extent, so it can attract more investors to ease the financing constraints. Secondly, family non-executive directors can effectively balance the relationship between maintaining family control and introducing external capital (Franks et al., 2012;Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2014). Therefore, the controlling family can actively attract external investors to meet the development needs of the family business through external financing. ...
... With the entry of external investors, the financing constraints faced by family firms can be alleviated to some extent. This can further strengthen their emphasis on long-term orientation (Chrisman & Patel, 2012;Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2014). Previous studies have found that robot adoption can improve production efficiency and expand the labour demand for non-automated tasks, thus enhancing corporate competitiveness (Bessen, 2019;Acemoglu & Restrepo, 2020b). ...
Purpose
Industrial robots are of great significance to the long-term development of family firms. Drawing on the lens of the principal–principal conflict, this paper aims to investigate the influence of family non-executive directors on robot adoption in Chinese family firms.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper selects the family firms in China from 2011 to 2019 as the sample. Furthermore, the authors manually collected the family non-executive directors and constructed the robot adoption variable utilizing data sourced from the International Federation of Robotics. In brief, this paper constructs a comprehensive framework of the mechanisms and additional tests pertaining to the influence of family non-executive directors on robot adoption.
Findings
This paper finds that family non-executive directors can promote robot adoption in family firms. The underlying mechanism analysis shows that family non-executive directors promote robot adoption by exerting financial and human effects. This paper further finds that the characteristics of family non-executive directors, such as kinship, differential shareholding and excessive directors, affect the role of family non-executive directors. Finally, robot adoption can improve future performance, and the promotional effect is more evident when family members are non-executive directors.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the related literature from the following two aspects. Firstly, this paper decomposes the types of family directors to understand the role of family non-executive directors, which challenges the assumption that family board members are homogeneous in family firms. Second, this paper expands the research on the factors that influence robot adoption in emerging economies from the micro-enterprise level. In addition, the findings in this paper have managerial implications for family firms to optimize their strategic decisions with the help of the mode of board right allocation.
... We contend, in fact, that while the SEW perspective is an especially powerful framework to explain why and how FFs behave in particular ways, its application in family business research has rarely been impeccable. In particular, family business scholars have, for the most part, neglected to consider how the broad variety of business families' socioemotional utilities can translate into different priorities (Miller and Le Breton-Miller, 2014), which are likely to influence FFs' preferences, behaviors and strategies in different ways. Instead, the broad set of SEPs has most often been aggregated into a single SEW construct that can be used to develop opposite arguments and predictions. ...
... To overcome this widespread limitation in family business research, we build on the typology proposed by Miller and Le Breton-Miller (2014) to examine the effects of restricted and extended SEPs on FFs' internationalization. In a nutshell, restricted SEPs prominently focus on the immediate economic and noneconomic needs of current family members even at the expense of the FF's long-term prospects; conversely, extended SEPs relate to the long-term wellbeing and interests of current and future family members, of the FF and of its stakeholders. ...
... First, we contribute to research on FFs' internationalization (e.g. Arregle et al., 2017;Debellis et al., 2021a) by theoretically disentangling the effects of two different kinds of SEPs on the extent of FFs' internationalization. Second, and relatedly, we contribute to family business research in general through a more fine-grained conceptualization of SEW and by directly measuring two different types of SEPs instead of relying on indirect governance measures (Miller and Le Breton-Miller, 2014). Finally, we also contribute to research on FFs' chrono-context by showing that long-term considerations such as the preservation of the family's legacy and the transmission of corporate control to future generations matter more for younger FFs. ...
Purpose
Past research has advanced a plethora of theoretical arguments on the effect of family ownership on firms’ international expansion and produced mixed empirical results. It is argued that the oversimplified way in which researchers have examined theoretically and tested empirically business families’ socioemotional priorities may explain the state of fragmentation in the literature. This study aims to investigate the differential effects of restricted (short-term and family-centric) versus extended (long-term and business-centric) socioemotional priorities on the extent of family firms’ internationalization to capture more nuanced aspects of the socioemotional wealth concept.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors test the hypotheses through OLS regressions on a sample of 287 family firms.
Findings
The authors find that restricted family-centric socioemotional priorities and extended socioemotional priorities related to the establishment of long-term relationships with business partners are negatively associated with the extent of family firms’ internalization. They also find that extended socioemotional priorities related to long-term orientation and transgenerational control intentions are positively associated with international expansion and that this effect is stronger for younger family firms.
Originality/value
This study disentangles the differential effects of two kinds of socioemotional priorities on family firms’ internationalization, thus developing more fine-grained theoretical arguments about the socioemotional drivers of family firms’ behavior. In addition, the authors directly measure socioemotional priorities instead of relying on indirect governance measures.
... Gomez-Mejia et al. (2007) further extend BAM by introducing Socioemotional Wealth (SEW) as the reference point that guides the behavior of family owners. Therefore, the SEW perspective has become a central lens for characterizing family businesses (Le Breton- Miller and Miller, 2018), distinguishing SEW priorities into "restricted", that is, focused on family benefits and short-term results, or "extended", spanning long time horizons and stakeholders beyond the family (Miller and Le Breton-Miller, 2014). This paper combines this theory with the Executive Power Theory. ...
... Second, according to the SEW approach, the goal of family female directors may lead to enhanced or worsened readability of the firm's reports. On the one hand, under the extended view of SEW, female family directors will be more willing to promote the disclosure of higher quality information to protect the reputation and family image in the long term, trying to promote a positive relationship with all stakeholders (Miller and Le Breton-Miller, 2014). This encourages family members to be more transparent in their statements. ...
... This encourages family members to be more transparent in their statements. On the other hand, from the restricted view of SEW, it is posited that certain female family members may prioritize safeguarding the family's control over the company at any cost (Miller and Le Breton-Miller, 2014). Consequently, this inclination can result in a deliberate reduction in document readability, aimed at concealing or manipulating issues that the family business may encounter concerning minority shareholders. ...
Purpose
This paper investigates the impact of board gender diversity on the readability of the annual reports of family-controlled public companies.
Design/methodology/approach
Grounded in the premises of the restricted and extended views of the socioemotional wealth (SEW) approach and executive power theory, this paper explores the ways in which family-affiliated female directors influence report readability in a sample of 133 publicly traded US companies listed in the Fortune 1,000. We use the system GMM estimator, which deals with two key sources of endogeneity by controlling first for reverse causality, using the lags of the endogenous variables as instruments, and then for omitted variables, capturing the individual effect.
Findings
Our analysis confirms that the significant enhancement in annual report readability is associated with the presence of female family directors, particularly those who are insiders within the company. In contrast, non-family female directors and family outsider directors appear to have a negative impact on annual report readability.
Originality/value
While scholars have increasingly focused on variations in annual report readability among family firms, the contribution of female directors to this phenomenon has received minimal attention. In our study, we integrate the theories of restricted and extended SEW perspectives with the theory of women’s executive power within the board. This integration is essential for considering two critical factors: firstly, the primacy of their SEW objectives, and, secondly, their legitimacy within the board.
... Consequently, the presence of a family CEO and the presence of the family in the board significantly influence the firm succession process (Fitz-Koch & Nordqvist, 2017), and the use of heritage to build corporate heritage identity is a manifestation of this family presence. However, we are also aware that family involvement evolves over time and this condition may shift family SEW from the extended to the restricted version and vice versa (Miller & Le Breton Miller, 2014). ...
... Compared to non-family controlled firms, in such a view the family goal is not simply economic or financial, but is mainly related to family-centric motives (e.g., Beckhard & Dyer, 1983;Newbert & Craig, 2017). The major risk of pursuing such a goal is related to the preservation of the firm's family control with the clear intent to circumvent profitable investments or initiatives if those would threaten such family control preservation (Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2014). ...
... As follows a developmental decade in the SEW perspective, scholars show to be divided on whether family SEW priorities actually turn positive or negative to family firm outcomes, such as financial performance (Tsao et al., 2021), long term strategic investment (Sun et al., 2019), and dividend payout (Miller et al., 2022). They categorize family SEW priorities, respectively, into "restricted" and "extended" SEW (Bauweraerts et al., 2024;Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2014), offering contradictory insights on economic outcomes. Restricted SEW is associated with conservative decisions, risk aversion, and a focus on maintaining family control, while extended SEW emphasizes long-term orientation, generous investments, and positive relations with stakeholders. ...
This paper looks at the socioemotional wealth (SEW) priorities to reveal how family involvement in the firms affects their use of heritage as a marketing signal, thereby leading to a corporate heritage identity. Built considering the distinction between extended and restricted family’s SEW framework, we find a direct relationship between the presence of a family CEO and the use of heritage, that is moderated by the family involvement in the board and by the generational stage. Our empirical analysis employs a quantitative approach applied to a sample of medium- and large-sized firms examined over the period from 2000 to 2016.
... We attribute most of this problem to the fact that obtaining psychometric measures of SEW across multiple organizations is difficult and costly and surveys have notoriously low return rates. Thus, researchers have instead used archival or secondary sources to infer the presence or absence of SEW based on such distal proxies as the percentage of shares in family hands, the number of family members in senior management positions, and family generational involvement (e.g., Chua et al., 2015;Miller and Le Breton-Miller, 2014). For this reason, Schulze and Kellermanns (2015: 454) observe that family business scholars have predominantly used proxy measures for SEW, "whose dimensions have remained largely undefined and unmeasured." ...
... For example, a meta-analysis showed that the human capital characteristics of top managers and core employees relate significantly to firm performance at 0.17 and 0.10, respectively (Crook et al., 2011). Results reveal that FIRE is negatively related on archival data to draw SEW inferences have slowed theory development (Brigham and Payne, 2019;Miller and Le Breton-Miller, 2014;Schulze and Kellermanns, 2015). Through extensive analysis across three studies, we have evaluated, refined, and validated a psychometric scale ("FIRE"), demonstrating that SEW can be characterized as a superordinate multidimensional construct to examine socioemotional utilities in organizations manifested in four specific dimensions: family control (F), identification with the firm (I), renewal of family bonds through dynastic succession (R), and emotional attachment (E). ...
... Notwithstanding the support we find for FIRE as a superordinate multidimensional construct, a closer look at the lower loadings for the "F" dimension with respect to "I"-"R"-"E" dimensions, might suggest potential differences between family control/influence and the other dimensions of SEW. Therefore, we encourage future scholars to explore more parsimonious categorizations of SEW typologies, such as the distinction between "restricted" and "extended" SEW (Laffranchini et al., 2020;Miller and Le Breton-Miller, 2014) or the distinction between "focused" and "broad" SEW, depending on the family's scope and time horizon (Gu et al., 2019). ...
The socio-emotional wealth perspective is a framework widely used to examine managerial decisions, particularly within the field of family business. We evaluate, refine, and validate the FIBER 27-item scale developed by Berrone et al. (2012) as a psychometric instrument to measure the socioemotional wealth construct (SEW), defined as affective endowment embedded by family owners in their business. The findings suggest that SEW is a superordinate multidimensional construct that captures socioemotional utilities in family firms and their impact on financial performance.
... That is to say, "familiness" is argued not to be something homogenous. However, most studies have supposed that each family member holds a relative equal level to the family firm, therefore generating an overall degree of family involvement of this firm (Miller and Le Breton-Miller, 2014). Recent studies oppose this, showing that the level of emotional attachment to the family firm differs not only between family members (Berrone et al., 2012) but also among non-family members, who can possess even stronger emotional endowments to the family firm than the proper family members (Miller and Le Breton-Miller, 2014). ...
... However, most studies have supposed that each family member holds a relative equal level to the family firm, therefore generating an overall degree of family involvement of this firm (Miller and Le Breton-Miller, 2014). Recent studies oppose this, showing that the level of emotional attachment to the family firm differs not only between family members (Berrone et al., 2012) but also among non-family members, who can possess even stronger emotional endowments to the family firm than the proper family members (Miller and Le Breton-Miller, 2014). It would be interesting for future researchers to scrutinize these differences. ...
Purpose
In this paper we propose to study the differences among family and non-family-firms in relation to its financial strength, and therefore its potential position to resist in front of financial crisis and receive financial support or conditions by public or private institutions.
Design/methodology/approach
We used multiple hierarchical regressions on a sample of 137 Spanish medium-sized firms (SMEs).
Findings
We observe that the perspectives and idiosyncratic characteristics of family-firms (strongly influenced by their socioemotional wealth) will affect the way these companies invest and operate in the market, which would be more related to efficiency because of their higher willingness to continue the legacy of the business and their weak risk-bearing attributes.
Research limitations/implications
Our study adopts a measure of familiness with a dummy variable, and not as a continuous variable as proposed by recent research. Therefore, our results although relevant and significant for the family firm literature, must be viewed carefully. Additional research could also retest some prior studies to depict differences caused by “real” family firm involvement.
Practical implications
Under a non-munificent environment, the financial strength maintained by firms will be highly relevant since this context could likely stress and influence their immediate future and viability, overcoming and blurring any other characteristic present in the firm or its managers.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the family firm literature by offering insights into the nuanced dynamics between family and non-family firms during economic downturns, specifically examining their financial strength when different strategic options are pursued and when firms are managed by different type of managers.
... The primary assumption is that existing endowments shape preferences. In their seminal work, Gomez-Mejia, Haynes, Nunez-Nickel, Jacobson, and Moyano-Fuentes (2007) have marked the noneconomic utility family members derive from their businesses as SEW or affective endowments (Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2014). Indeed, family members are appreciated for managing their businesses not to only maximize financial returns but also to preserve or increase the socioemotional endowments they obtain from the business (Gomez-Mejia, Cruz, Berrone, & De Castro, 2011). ...
... Additionally, researchers have noted that SEW preferences can vary among family members. For instance, family executives might prioritize economic objectives, while family owners not engaged in daily management might lean more toward specific SEW-driven motivations (Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2014;recently Marques, Leitão, Ferreira, & Cavalcanti, 2023). ...
In the global economy, the international strategies of family firms, influenced by family ownership and management, remain underexplored. Bridging the family business and international business fields, we use the socioemotional wealth lens to examine 1,236 international expansions from 2007 to 2013. Categorizing firms into pure family, nearly pure family, borderline family, and non-family typologies, we assess the influence of internal (experience, knowledge) and external (country risk) factors on their entry modes. Results indicate that higher family involvement in ownership/management increases the preference for greenfield investments over acquisitions or equity alliances, a relationship further moderated by international experience and country risk. This study provides nuanced insights into the international behaviors of family firms.
... The will to perpetuate and reinforce family and social ties significantly affects behaviour on this path, as the family business identity is the result of family history and traditions, as well as of the contributions provided by past and present stakeholders. According to previous studies, at the core of the social relations dimension, the firm is not considered a tool to uniquely realise a family's goals but is an emotional arena in which multiple interests, apart from those of the family, converge (Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2014). ...
... By incorporating some existing notions, such as family altruism (Mitchell et al., 2011;Karra et al., 2006) and the extended SEW view (Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2014), and considering the SEW dimensions of identification, binding social ties, and a transgenerational view, we contribute to the IPO literature (e.g., Souitaris et al., 2020) as the new concept conceives the founder's-the family in our case-exit (Bayar & Chemmanur, 2011) or their reduction in power, not as a defect but as a necessity to ensure the family business in the long run. Hence, the interests to be safeguarded go beyond those of the family, as attention shifts to employees as part of the family and a constituent of the business. ...
This study investigates why and how family firms go public via initial public offering (IPO) and explores how family firms’ distinctive traits contribute to specific IPO behavior. The results show that family firms face IPO following three paths— shine, continue, and challenge. Family IPO firms emphasize control, identification, and succession ( shine); focus on family social capital, responsibility toward stakeholders, and family business identity ( continue); and highlight control, identification, new leaders’ self-affirmation, and generational transfers ( challenge). We uncover the complexities of emotional endowment—a reference point for making IPO decisions and a resource or constraint to engage in the IPO process.
... Also, while identification of family members (I) and their emotional attachment to the firm (E) might cause family members to care and dedicate extra efforts within the firm, they can cause conflicts between the family members when making complex decisions that, in turn, imperils the performance. Similarly, Miller and Le Breton-Miller (2014) argue that the SEW may benefit but also jeopardize family firm performance. Additionally, family firm performance can have a negative impact on SEW levels, which might cause family members to have a weaker desire for control over the company (F), while high performance could increase the willingness to continue the dynastic succession within the firm (R). ...
... Moreover, many family-related antecedents were used as the SEW proxies (e.g., Hussinger and Issah 2019; Poletti-Hughes and Williams 2019). However, considering that researchers have been emphasizing the need to operationalize the SEW concept for years (e.g., Gomez-Mejia et al. 2011;Naldi et al. 2013) so it can be measured more directly (Miller and Le Breton-Miller 2014) and as this literature review examines the studies on the specific SEW-performance relationship, it appeared as valuable to approach the SEW-related antecedents separately. Hence, the SEW-related antecedents include SEW dimensions (FIBER), SEW importance (SEWi), SEW preservation, SEW endowment, SEW owner-specific motives, family members' emotional attachment, and SEW intensity. ...
Research in socioemotional wealth (SEW) and its relationship with a firm’s performance in family businesses has increased in recent years. Nevertheless, this relationship remains dearth. Further development of knowledge around this theme is interrupted by the lack of systematic organization of the existing literature. Hence, this study aims to systematically examine the literature on the SEW-performance relationship. By utilizing the framework-based systematic literature review, the research examines 38 SEW-performance-related articles extracted from the Scopus database. The study provides the current research gaps in existing literature through different methodological approaches and variables (antecedents, consequences, mediators, moderators, and controls) analysis, which lead to different future research opportunities.
... Moreover, female directors may have different capabilities and incentives depending on their affiliation to the firm (Rodríguez-Ariza et al. 2017; Poletti-Hughes and Briano-Turrent 2019; Cordeiro et al. 2020), which may lead to different effects on cash policies. Compared to female directors with family ties, non-family female directors place greater weight on the interests of the firm over family objectives (Cumming et al. 2015;Hoskisson 2017;Miller and Le Breton-Miller 2014;Cruz et al. 2019;Campopiano et al. 2019;Hillebrand et al. 2019;Herdhayinta et al. 2021). They also tend to have greater social capital, personal competence and legitimation (Cruz et al. 2019;Campopiano et al. 2019;González et al. 2020), added to which their appointment is usually based more on merit and ability (González et al. 2020;Herdhayinta et al. 2021). ...
... In particular, although family male and female directors share a common history, identity, status and feelings related to the company, our research aligns with studies that point to the existence of differences between male and female family members vis-à-vis their behaviour and goals (Martínez-Jiménez 2009;Fang, et al. 2016;Campopiano et al. 2017;Gimenez-Jimenez et al. 2021;Akhmedova et al. 2020;Bauweraerts et al. 2022;Calabró et al. 2023). Moreover, we consider differences between family and non-family female directors, given that gender interactions at the top of the corporate hierarchy may influence investment decisions (Amore et al. 2014), since family or non-family female director status will affect their role on the board (Cumming et al. 2015;Hoskisson 2017;Miller and Le Breton-Miller 2014;González et al. 2020;Cruz et al. 2019;Campopiano et al. 2019;Hillebrand et al. 2019;Herdhayinta et al. 2021). This is important because the role played by female directors in family firms has thus far yielded scarce empirical evidence (Kubiček and Machek 2019). ...
Using a sample of 630 firm-year observations of non-financial Spanish listed companies for the period 2004–2020, this study examines linkages of family and non-family female directors and cash holding. We show that family and non-family female directors affect cash holdings differently. When the presence of family female directors is scarce, their role is eclipsed, thereby encouraging actions related to family goals and increasing cash holdings. However, when the presence of family female directors reaches a critical mass, the cohesion between the interests of the dominant family and external investors increases, thereby reducing the level of cash holdings. When the number of non-family female directors is low, the cash level of family firms is reduced, suggesting that non-family female directors encourage the family firm’s cash reduction as a result of their greater capacity to control and their orientation towards an effective corporate governance system. This cash-decreasing effect will occur even if the number of non-family female directors is low, since the purpose of appointing non-family female directors is less likely to be symbolic. In addition, non-family female directors are concerned about threats to reputational capital, such that reducing cash holdings would promote their reputation as credible supervisors, protect their current appointments, and also boost the likelihood of future appointments. However, the presence of a critical mass of non-family female directors becomes a sufficiently powerful instrument of control and legitimation for external investors, allowing for increased cash levels without increasing agency conflicts.
... An explanation of how business-owning families might seek SEW while both protecting and promoting the interests of others would be a welcome answer to the current "limited" view of SEW, when the family's priorities "are strongly family-centric and frequently run opposed to the interests of non-family stakeholders and the enterprise, at least in the long run" (Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2014). Examining how business-owning families might assess their self-interested pursuit of SEW with their additional moral responsabilities to non-family stakeholders, a normative perspective to stakeholder management might help move towards an "extended" view of SEW, in which those priorities "encompass benefits that go beyond the family" (Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2014). ...
... An explanation of how business-owning families might seek SEW while both protecting and promoting the interests of others would be a welcome answer to the current "limited" view of SEW, when the family's priorities "are strongly family-centric and frequently run opposed to the interests of non-family stakeholders and the enterprise, at least in the long run" (Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2014). Examining how business-owning families might assess their self-interested pursuit of SEW with their additional moral responsabilities to non-family stakeholders, a normative perspective to stakeholder management might help move towards an "extended" view of SEW, in which those priorities "encompass benefits that go beyond the family" (Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2014). ...
... Second, although SEW is often attributed as a key driver of sustainability practices in family firms (Mariani et al., 2023), an increasing number of studies highlight that various SEW dimensions differentially impact family firms' behavior and performance outcomes (Davila et al., 2023;Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2014) as well as their sustainability strategies (Cruz et al., 2014;Diéguez-Soto et al., 2021;Hsueh et al., 2023;Zientara, 2017). The grammar of this sentence is incorrect. ...
What drives eco-innovations among family SMEs? Given the mixed findings about family firms' engagement in environmental practices, this question has profound implications for academia and practitioners. By applying the mixed gamble lens, we propose an inverted U-shape relationship between financial performance satisfaction and the extent to which family SMEs introduce eco-innovations. An analysis using data from Dutch family SMEs supports our hypothesis. Our results provide not only managerial implications for family business practitioners to enhance eco-innovations, but also challenge prior findings in sustainability and family business research regarding the linear relationship between financial performance satisfaction and strategic decisions, opening avenues for future research to dive deeper into the complex impact of financial performance satisfaction on organizational outcomes.
... Under conditions of poor financial performance, family firms may opt for decisions that lower SEW in the short term; such as undergoing unrelated diversificationbased acquisitions (Gomez-Mejia et al., 2018) or the implementation of high-performing work systems that include management and employees who are non-family members (Peláez-León & Sánchez-Marín, 2022;. This is because under undesired financial performance, there is a risk of losing the whole firm, and hence losing SEW and family FW altogether (Mahto et al., 2022;Martin & Gomez-Mejia, 2016;Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2014;Schulze & Kellermanns, 2015). ...
In the field of family business, the pursuit of Socioemotional wealth has been recognized as a primary motivation for family firms, often at the expense of Financial Wealth. However, the trade-off between Socioemotional Wealth and Financial Wealth is not always clear-cut and may depend on individual values. Under conditions of uncertainty, a shift in values occurs resulting in a change in the mixed gamble where the focus is on Total Family Wealth (TFW) instead of one of the wealth concerns. Through a conceptual analysis, and based on the Upper Echelons Theory, the purpose of this paper is to develop a values-based model for family firms, under both regular and uncertain conditions, to understand which values lead to trading off Socioemotional wealth for Financial Wealth and vice versa in their decision-making as well as which values shift to focus on Total Family Wealth. This paper contributes to the growing literature on family firms by shedding light on the role of values in shaping strategic decision-making within the context of mixed gamble as well as under uncertainty or risk.
... La richesse socioémotionnelle met en avant que l'identité, la capacité à exercer une influence familiale et la longévité de la dynastie familiale visent à préserver les dotations affectives et émotionnelles entre les membres de la famille (Berrone, Cruz et Gómez-Mejia, 2012 ;Debicki, Kellermanns, Chrisman, Pearson et Spencer, 2016 ;Gómez-Mejia et al., 2007). La littérature souligne la diversité des définitions et des dimensions utilisées par les auteurs (Miller et Le Breton-Miller, 2014). Par exemple, Debicki et al. (2016) définissent la richesse socioémotionnelle comme l'ensemble des avantages non financiers spécifiquement associés au bien-être et aux besoins émotionnels des membres de la famille découlant de l'exploitation de l'entreprise. ...
Cette recherche vise à mieux comprendre le rôle du capital social dans la performance de l'entreprise familiale. Plus spécifiquement, elle examine comment le capital social interne et externe impacte la performance économique et non économique de ces entreprises, en prenant en compte le rôle modérateur de l'implication familiale dans la direction et les conflits entre les membres de la famille. Une étude quantitative est conduite sur un échantillon de 105 PME familiales tunisiennes. Les résultats montrent que le capital social interne et externe a un impact positif sur la performance. Les résultats mettent également en exergue le rôle modérateur de l'implication familiale dans la direction et les conflits entre les membres de la famille. Enfin, l'article présente plusieurs implications managériales et propose quelques pistes de recherche futures.
... Our study suggests that examining SEW under the lens of institutional theory contributes to enhancing the validity of SEW theory. Because we cannot observe SEW directly and it is typically used as an abstract explanatory construct, this has led some authors to refer to it as a 'ghost' (Miller and Le Breton-Miller, 2014). Contrasting its theorizing under different institutional settings and comparing the behaviour of family and nonfamily firms in those settings can help overcome this criticism about the weakness of SEW. ...
... …have a major influence on day-to-day decisions (Astrachan et al., 2002;Berrone et al., 2012;Carney, 2005;Chua et al., 1999;Cruz et al., 2011;Dyer, 1987;Fries et al., 2021;Handler, 1989;James et al., 2017;Köhn et al., 2023;Miller et al., 2017;Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2014;Mussolino & Calabrò, 2014;Tabor et al., 2018) v_46 …have great influence on the long-term orientation of the firm v_47 ...
To further our understanding of family influence in family businesses, this study introduces the Perceived Family Influence Scale (PFIS). Departing from existing owner-centric methodologies, the PFIS uses social constructivism theory to capture family influence from the perspective of non-family employees, a frequently neglected but integral stakeholder group within the family firm ecosystem. Following a rigorous multistep development process involving 600 non-family employees, we validate the PFIS and identify three core sub-dimensions of perceived family influence: culture, organizational decision-making, and image. We also demonstrate the practical applicability of the PFIS by examining the link between perceived family influence and non-family employee job satisfaction. Grounded in social constructivism, the PFIS is a reliable instrument that allows for the collection of more unbiased and holistic data on family influence, thereby refining our understanding of family firms and advancing the family business research field.
... This concept emphasizes the nonfinancial rewards, such as personal relationship networks, trust, and collaborations, which are intrinsically linked to the overall well-being of family members (Kammerlander, 2022;Swab et al., 2020). The underlying theoretical foundation of SEW is rooted in the behavioral agency perspective, which posits that our choices are shaped by our available resources and endowments (Miller & le Breton-Miller, 2014). Scholars have contended that different dimensions of SEW significantly influence the succession process, contingent upon the environment in which the FB operates. ...
Plain language summary
Drawing on an exhaustive analysis of 112 scholarly articles dedicated to the field of Knowledge Management in Family Businesses (KMFB), this study systematically examines the prevailing research frontiers, investigates the intricate dynamics of knowledge management processes, explores the multifaceted outcomes within family business contexts, and provides an array of theoretical perspectives to underpin the empirical investigations. Despite its relatively modest representation and dispersion across disciplinary boundaries, KMFB research has made commendable advancements, attaining notable recognition in academia and engendering fertile prospects for future inquiry. A pivotal focal point that emerges from this comprehensive investigation is the significance of the succession process, which serves as a pivotal link between knowledge processes and the effectiveness in harnessing innovation, entrepreneurial orientation, sustainability, and internationalization outcomes. This critical junction underscores the importance of understanding how knowledge flows and is managed within family business settings, thereby shaping these enterprises’ trajectory and ultimate success. Notably, a discernible pattern surfaces from the analysis, with a substantial proportion of the KMFB literature grounded in three prominent theoretical lenses: the knowledge-based view, resource-based view, and dynamic capabilities. These theoretical frameworks provide robust foundations for explicating the underlying mechanisms and dynamics that drive knowledge management and its impact on family business performance. Furthermore, this systematic literature review uncovers a rich landscape of opportunities for future research endeavours. It illuminates potential avenues for novel research designs, innovative investigations into knowledge processes, exploration of diverse outcomes, and the application of alternative theoretical perspectives within KMFB research. These prospects hold immense promise in advancing scholarly knowledge, refining existing theories, and providing fresh insights into the intricate interplay between knowledge management and family business performance.
... The second strand of literature related to FBG and EM is based on socioemotional wealth (SEW)reputation hypothesis. According to this SEW theory, the controlling family was not involved in EM due to their reputation, emotional attachment, influence, transgenerational sustainability and identification in the contextual environment (Achleitner et al., 2014;Miller and Le Breton-Miller, 2014;Berrone et al., 2012 [3]; Gomez-Mejia et al., 2011Chrisman et al., 2004). Moreover, the SEW theory provides an alternative explanation for the negative relationship between FBG and EM. ...
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the role of corporate governance (CG) in the earnings management (EM) of affiliated companies in family business groups (FBGs) listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), using principal–principal agency theory.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample of 327 nonfinancial firms of the PSX, consisting of 187 group-affiliated firms and 140 nonaffiliated firms has been used in this study for the period of 2010 to 2019. The study uses different regression models for analysis, with robustness tests of various alternative measures of EM and FBG affiliation. In addition, endogeneity is controlled with the propensity score matching method.
Findings
The findings show that EM is less prevalent in affiliated firms compared to nonaffiliated companies. The results show a negative and significant relationship between FBGs affiliated firms and EM. Moreover, the results also show a positive relationship between EM and the interaction term of the CG index and group affiliation. It refers to the fact that effective governance cannot reduce EM in affiliated companies of FBGs as well as in the nonfinancial companies of the PSX. In addition, the quality of CG is higher in affiliated companies compared to its counterpart in nonaffiliated firms. The findings support the principal–principal agency theory that CG cannot mitigate the expropriating behavior of controlling shareholders against minority shareholders by reducing EM in emerging markets due to the ownership concentration phenomenon.
Research limitations/implications
This research study has implications for small investors, government agencies and regulators. The findings of the study show that CG code should make it mandatory for companies to reveal information about their complex ownership structure and ownership information about affiliated companies and directors. Furthermore, it is suggested to revisit the code of CG in the Pakistani context of principal–principal conflict instead of the agent–principal explanation of agency theory based on Anglo–Saxon countries.
Originality/value
This research study has contributed to the CG and FBG literature in relation to EM in idiosyncratic settings of Pakistan. One of the prime contributions of the paper is the development of a comprehensive CG index. This research study used detailed, manually collected novel data on affiliated firms of FBGs in Pakistan.
... Le modèle structurel corrobore les hypothèses 1 et 2 selon lesquelles les intentions de continuité exercent une influence positive sur l'identification et l'attachement au sein de la famille actionnaire. Ces résultats confirment les relations proposées dans la littérature quant àl'interaction entre les objectifs socio-émotionnels et à l'antécédence de certains par rapport à d'autres(Kellermanns et al. 2012 ;Miller et Le Breton-Miller, 2014). Les intentions de continuité, c'est-à-dire la volonté de voir l'entreprise perdurer au sein de la famille, peuvent être considérées comme étant un méta-objectif socio-émotionnel duquel dérivent l'objectif d'identification et celui d'attachement émotionnel. ...
... például Ingram et al., 2016). Ezt a szakirodalom a szocioemocionális vagyonnal (socioemotional wealth, SEW) magyarázza, amely szerint a családi vállalkozások döntéseiket nem kizárólag racionális pénzügyi-, hanem azzal akár ellentétes célok, így például társadalmi-, családi-vagy akár emocionális megfontolások alapján hozzák meg (Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2014). A SEW megőrzése érdekében a családi vállalkozások rendszerint kockázatkerülők, viszont hajlandóak kockázatot vállalni és különféle stratégiákba bocsátkozni a SEWet érintő esetleges veszteségek elkerülése érdekében (Gomez-Mejia et al., 2010). ...
Az interjúzás az egyik leggyakoribb adatgyűjtési, vagy adatgenerálási módszer (Mason, 2002), amelyet a kvalitatív kutatók szinte mindig, és a kvantitatív kutatók is gyakran használnak. Itt most sem indokoltsága, sem helye nincs annak, hogy az interjúzással kapcsolatos, bármely szintű tudományfilozófiai és kutatásmódszertani kurzuson akár alapvetőnek tekintett ismereteket sorra vegyük. Az írás célja néhány alapfogalom tisztázása, valamint a kvalitatív interjúzással mint a BGE Családi vállalkozás Kutatási Programjában használt módszerrel összefüggő néhány gyakorlatias tapasztalat és tanács megosztása.
... These perspectives believe that socioemotional wealth is the most essential noneconomic advantages of a family firm. However, the concept of socioemotional wealth is oppositely considered sometimes unfavorable for the family business (Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2014). Schepers et al. (2014) found that socioemotional wealth limits the relationship in business performances of family firms. ...
The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 has inflicted serious financial distresses for most firms in multi-sectoral industries. Each of them was enforced to deal with the economic downturns by working more efficiently. In this case, family and non-family firms might perform differently to protect themselves from bankruptcy. This research aims to measure firm efficiency by employing a total of 52 entities listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), 26 entities for each type of firms from 2019 to 2022, reflecting the times before, during, and after the pandemic. At the first stage, date envelopment analysis (DEA) with constant return-to-scale (CRS) input-oriented approach is employed to generate deterministic efficiency scores of each sample which the bias is then corrected using Simar and Wilson’s bootstrap technique. At the second stage, hypothesis testing is conducted to examine whether the difference in efficiency score between both types of firms is significant. The result shows that family and non-family firms do not perform differently during a 4-year of research period (p-value=0.136). Nevertheless, family firms exhibit a significant drop in 2020 (p-value=0.0061), where this condition reversed with a significant increase in 2021 (p-value=0.0002). Non-family firms perform more stably throughout the research years. Finally this research may contribute to the development of organization-related science, business, and strategic management. The way most family firms operate might reflect the socio-cultural attributes of a nation. There is no other similar study found since COVID-19 pandemic is still considered as a relatively new global health crisis.
... However, Li and Daspit (2016) found that family governance alone does not explain variation in family business innovation, proposing that socio-emotional wealth (SEW), which is related to the pursuit of non-economic desires and the emotional aspects of family participation, explains the variations found in the literature. In this sense, SEW can be divided into immediate short-term benefits (restricted SEW) or long-term transgenerational benefits (extended SEW), helping to understand the divergent findings of family businesses on innovation issues (Miller and Le Breton-Miller, 2014). Besides, a rich social capital (proper for this type of enterprises), enables them to acquire more contacts and increase their knowledge absorption capacity, translating this external knowledge into innovation capability (Yin et al., 2023). ...
Purpose
The individual perspective of dynamic capabilities and family firms could be useful to shed light on the relationship between these topics, considering not only the heterogeneity of family businesses but above all the diversity of their collaborators, highlighting the underlying elements through which these firms are sustained.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on systematic research, considering the most relevant literature about dynamic capabilities and family firms.
Findings
Findings highlight the individual perspective of dynamic capabilities and family firms, where we identify the main elements that family businesses must be aware of to be more innovative: high knowledge management/social capital, high entrepreneurial mindset/orientation, high tradition (retrospective and prospective), high empowering leadership, high next generation involvement, extended SEW (long-term perspective), risk-neutral, low conservative/inertia/paternalism and low emotionally attached.
Originality/value
The paper analyzes relevant studies on dynamic capabilities and family firms, proposing a research agenda with questions for further inquiries that cover inertia, paternalism, digital transformation and the individual perspective of dynamic capabilities and family firms. In addition, the authors provide practical implications for these topics.
Research Questions/Issues
Scholarly interest in family firm governance and its strategic decision‐making has increased since the invention of socioemotional wealth (SEW). However, the widespread use of the SEW concept raises concerns on its reification and tautology. To address these concerns, we propose analyzing the social embeddedness of family firms to shed light on SEW‐driven governance practices and decision‐making.
Research Findings
Our two‐step method reviewed 85 papers utilizing social network perspectives, institutional theory, and SEW concepts. Our analysis demonstrates that integrating social embeddedness into SEW can help clarify the origins of SEW and its impact on decision‐making and governance and practices within family firms. Nonetheless, our analysis also highlights research gaps that future studies should address.
Theoretical Implications
By integrating the social embeddedness perspective with SEW, we offer a novel framework that systematically illustrates the social rationales underpinning diverse SEW‐driven behaviors and the evolution of governance practices in family firms. This framework, drawing from social network and institutional theory, elucidates the formation of SEW as driven by multidimensional social motivations, thus reconciling mixed findings from previous SEW research. Furthermore, our review provides a comprehensive research agenda for future studies in family business and corporate governance, encouraging exploration of multiple institutional logics, social networks, and their confounding effects on the SEW of family businesses.
Practical Implications
Our findings guide financial investors and nonfinancial stakeholders to better comprehend family firms' economic and noneconomic concerns, their distinct strategic behaviors from other firms, and their hybrid governance practices. Our discussion suggests practitioners incorporating social context of controlling families into decision.
The impact of a firm's origins on its strategic decision‐making has attracted scholarly attention in recent years. Focusing on firms' origins, this paper explores the relationship between the privatization of state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) and family business internationalization. Based on data from listed family businesses in China from 2003 to 2022, we find that compared to entrepreneurial family businesses, restructured family businesses have a lower internationalization degree. Moreover, high trade policy uncertainty strengthens the negative relationship between the privatization of SOEs and family business internationalization, while high family involvement plays a weakening role. Several robustness tests later, the findings remain valid. This study introduces the firm's origin as a vital determinant, which may contribute to the prior studies on family business internationalization. Besides, this paper complements research on the economic consequences of the privatization of SOEs in China. Finally, this paper may help Chinese family businesses actively participate in the international cycle to achieve competitive advantage and high‐quality development.
Purpose
This study investigates the influence of family involvement in firm ownership on the deployment of dynamic capabilities, differentiating between the more structural aspects of family ownership (i.e. ownership dispersion) and the more emotional aspects (i.e. wealth concentration).
Design/methodology/approach
We test our hypotheses on a large base of Spanish family-owned tourism firms. The idiosyncratic characteristics of this economic sector, mainly composed of family-owned firms, make it an excellent context for the purposes of this research.
Findings
Building on this contextual approach, our study finds that both sides of family ownership have ambivalent effects on the development of dynamic capabilities considering the size of family business.
Originality/value
Competitive pressures force companies to capitalize on dynamic capabilities, as they empower firms to increase their distinctiveness through new products, processes and business management models. However, research remains particularly ambiguous regarding the commitment to innovation and learning capabilities for family businesses, where different aspects of family ownership might alter innovation processes.
Recent advances in research have shed some light on why and how CBEs emerge and the factors that lead to their successful creation. Yet, important gaps in knowledge persist about how CBEs evolve successfully once they have emerged. This lack of attention is intriguing given the widespread proliferation of community-based enterprises as an instrument for socioeconomic development. We apply socioemotional wealth (SEW) as an analytical lens beyond its traditional realm of family businesses to the context of community-based enterprises (CBEs). Our research setting is a Colombian CBE, comprising 325 families, that balances its economic objectives with its affective needs. Through an abductive approach to theory elaboration, our paper contributes to the CBE literature by proffering a new construct, community socioemotional wealth applicable to CBEs. Our findings provide insights into how the presence of community socioemotional wealth enables the CBE to successfully fulfill its multiple goals and achieve enduring success. We observe the presence of socioemotional wealth’s five dimensions at the community level, but notably, we uncover two novel dimensions (empowerment and holistic mission) that are unique to CBEs. These seven dimensions create a valuable new construct to study community socioemotional wealth and, when observed, help explain the presence of a favorable terrain for CBEs to succeed.
This chapter explores the structural, psychological, and socioemotional factors in innovation in a funeral home in Mexico and analyzes the firm's stage in the innovation process. This qualitative study examines socioemotional wealth through the FIBER dimensions and the stage in the innovation process through the Readiness for Innovation in Family Firms (RIFF) framework. The findings suggest that socioemotional wealth has not allowed the implementation of governmental bodies. The existence of two generations in management has allowed the firm to take advantage of the knowledge and experience of the old generation and the skills of the young generation to continue innovating in products, processes, and services. The firm has the willingness and ability to adopt innovation, although SEW's accumulated endowment has limited long-term innovations as the expansion of the business to other states. This chapter addresses the Arriaga Group case study, a well-known family business firm in Hidalgo, Mexico.
This paper examines the impact of culture norms on the digital transformation of Chinese listed family firms. We show that clan culture is negatively associated with firms' digital transformation degree. Exploring possible mechanisms through the logic of restricted socioemotional wealth theory, we find that clan culture inhibits digital transformation by increasing firms' risk aversion to restricted SEW loss. Further, the negative impact is stronger when the family exhibits a higher tendency to avoid such risk, and will ultimately harm firm future performance and value. The results indicate that external informal institution is an important antecedent of firms' disruptive innovation strategy.
Family firms (FFs) are characterized by their unique emphasis on specific beliefs and values (BaV). Although literature acknowledges the significance of BaV for firm behavior and management decisions, little is known about their religious and secular sources. Following secularization theory and post-secular society, the impact of religion in developed societies such as the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) remains ambiguous, challenged by both secularization and religious revival. We address this research gap by exploring the religious and secular sources of BaV through FFs’ dialogue capacity. Our qualitative-empirical study builds on semi-structured interviews with 21 large FFs from the DACH region, covering mostly family CEOs, and secondary data. Using an inductive approach, we identify FFs where religion remains significant, even as their dialogue capacity undergoes transformation. Secularization necessitates that religious sources to adapt to the secular business context. Thus, our findings do not conform to the open dialogue claimed by post-secular society. Additionally, the proposed dichotomous separation into a religious sphere and a secular sphere does not correspond to the actual landscape of FFs. Instead, three different shades of FFs emerge, which demonstrate unique dynamics in their dialogue capacity. This paper provides novel in-depth insights on BaV in FFs and is among the first empirical studies on secularization and post-secular society from a business perspective. Furthermore, it contributes a process model of FFs’ dialogue capacity and proposes avenues for further research.
Academic researchers have recently recognised the impact of family firms’ idiosyncrasies and characteristics on financial accounting practices, and identified distinctions between family and non-family businesses. However, this issue still needs appropriate systematisation and discussion. It is important to understand how family businesses’ features shape financial accounting phenomena, but the most authoritative review on the topic dates back more than 10 years. We therefore conducted a systematic review of 133 articles on financial accounting in family firms published in peer-reviewed journals up to 2023. We aimed to assess what scholars have explored so far on this topic, interpreting findings using three levels of analysis: family, business, and individual. The novelty of our paper comes from using this framework to create a thematic map that provides a comprehensive overview of the current research on this topic and developing an extensive research agenda for future studies. The article also provides practical implications for family firm managers, practitioners, and regulators by clarifying the influence of characteristics of family businesses on accounting practices.
Founders of family firms differ from descendants, particularly in terms of affective attachment, cognitive identification, and social concern. This study examines how these generational differences between founder-led and descendant-led family firms affect corporate social responsibility (CSR) decoupling, which is the gap between stated CSR policies on paper and their actual implementation in practice. While decoupling may yield economic benefits by saving on implementation costs if concealed, it can damage socioemotional wealth if revealed. The findings, based on a sample of 3,576 firm-year observations from large firms in the United States, demonstrate that the relationship between family ownership and CSR decoupling is contingent upon family generation. Family ownership decreases CSR decoupling in founder family firms, while it increases CSR decoupling in descendant family firms. It indicates that family firms perceive the benefits and risks of CSR decoupling differently based on the generation of family leaders.
JEL CLASSIFICATION: M14, G32, D22, L25
Despite the proliferation of scholarship on family firms the relationship between family ownership and internationalization is far from clear. Drawing on the mixed gamble logic and restricted versus extended socioemotional wealth (SEW) priority of family firms we propose an S-curve relationship. We hypothesize that internationalization decreases at a low level of family ownership, increases at a moderate level of family ownership, and decreases again at a high level of family ownership. This S-shaped relationship is the outcome of family owners’ assessment of different gains and losses associated with internationalization (mixed gamble) and their subsequent decision to support or oppose internationalization. Our analyses of 200 Indian firms from 2006 to 2020 time-period support our predictions and demonstrate that the inflection points in the S-curve appear at family ownership levels of 52% and 76%.
As the predominant business type, family firms hold a unique position to influence the global sector’s ESG footprint. However, research on their ESG activities and performance is complex, multi-layered, and currently lacks integration. This review aims to bridge these research disciplines by providing an integrative overview of the current state of family firm ESG literature. By systematically reviewing 127 peer-reviewed studies published between 2000 and mid-2024, I examine the determinants and outcomes of family firm ESG performance, synthesize existing knowledge, and suggest future research directions. The findings reveal the nuanced and at times ambiguous role of family involvement across different ESG dimensions. Additionally, methodological challenges have contributed to inconclusive results in certain areas. This literature review identifies several promising new directions for future research at the intersection of family firm and ESG research to enhance our understanding and foster a more integrated and comprehensive approach to studying ESG in family firms.
In this research, the active role of the awareness regarding beliefs and values that are effective when family businesses -which carry great importance in the Turkish and glocal economy- are adopting a sustainable business approach, and the concept of socioemotional wealth (SEW), which is perceived as the non-economical values attained by the family due to its controlling position in the business, was examined. At the same time, the research has focused on heterogeneity in family businesses, dwelling on the concepts of competitive advantage and sustainable life, which are especially effective in shaping the situation of family businesses are an important source of entrepreneurship. Based on the results of literature research regarding the subject, in this research, the conceptual characteristics, innovation capabilities, competitive advantages and sustainable lives of family businesses operating in İstanbul in varying sizes from small enterprises to medium-sized enterprises and even large global enterprises were examined; 193 questionnaires were evaluated in line with the data received from İstanbul Chamber Of Industry as the target audience. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS. As a result of the analysis, it has been seen that while SEW has a positive and meaningful effect on competitive advantage and sustainable business life, innovation capability has a partial mediation role. In this framework, it has been argued that SEW is a helpful construct for understanding the behavior of the family business; and as the family-related goals as reflected by SEW become more important for the business, family businesses have been shown to gain a competitive advantage with sustainable business longevity.
Çalışmada, Türkiye ve dünya ekonomisinde büyük bir önem arz eden aile işletmelerinin sürdürülebilir bir işletme yaşamı benimsemelerinde etkili olan inanç ve değerler bilincinin ve ailenin işletmedeki kontrol konumundan elde ettiği ekonomik olmayan değerler olarak algılanan sosyo-duygusal zenginlik (SEW) kavramının etkin rolü incelenmiştir. Aynı zamanda önemli bir girişimcilik kaynağı olan aile işletmelerinin durumunun şekillenmesinde özellikle etkili olan sürdürülebilir başarı anahtarına sahip olmak için rekabet avantajı ve sürdürülebilir yaşam kavramları ele alınarak aile işletmelerindeki heterojenliğe odaklanılmıştır. Literatürde konuyla ilgili araştırma sonuçlarına dayanarak, bu araştırmada, İstanbul ilindeki küçük girişimlerden orta ölçekli işletmelere ve hatta büyük küresel işletmelere kadar değişen büyüklüklerde faaliyet gösteren aile işletmelerinin kavramsal olarak özellikleri, inovasyon yetenekleri, rekabet avantajları ve sürdürülebilir yaşamları incelenmiş; hedef kitle olarak İstanbul Sanayi Odası’ndan alınan veriler doğrultusunda 193 anket değerlendirmeye alınmıştır. Elde edilen veriler SPSS kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Analiz sonucunda SEW rekabet avantajı ve sürdürülebilir işletme yaşamını olumlu ve anlamlı yönde etkilerken, inovasyon yeteneğinin kısmi bir aracılık rolü olduğu görülmüştür. Bu çerçevede, SEW’in aile işletmesi davranışını anlamada yararlı bir yapı olduğu öne sürülmüş; SEW tarafından yansıtılan aile ile ilgili hedefler, işletme için daha önemli hale geldiğinde aile işletmelerinin sürdürüebilir bir işletme uzun yaşamı ile rekabet avantajı elde ettiği görülmüştür.
In this research, the active role of the awareness regarding beliefs and values that are effective when family businesses -which carry great importance in the Turkish and glocal economy- are adopting a sustainable business approach, and the concept of socio-emotional wealth (SEW), which is perceived as the non-economical values attained by the family due to its controlling position in the business, was examined. At the same time, the research has focused on heterogeneity in family businesses, dwelling on the concepts of competitive advantage and sustainable life, which are especially effective in shaping the situation of family businesses are an important source of entrepreneurship. Based on the results of literature research regarding the subject, in this research, the conceptual characteristics, innovation capabilities, competitive advantages and sustainable lives of family businesses operating in Istanbul in varying sizes from small enterprises to medium-sized enterprises and even large global enterprises were examined; 193 questionnaires were evaluated in line with the data received from İstanbul chamber of industry as the target audience. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS. As a result of the analysis, it has been seen that while SEW has a positive and meaningful effect on competitive advantage and sustainable business life, innovation ability has a partial mediation role. In this framework, it has been argued that SEW is a helpful construct for understanding the behavior of the family business; and as the family-related goals as reflected by SEW become more important for the business, family businesses have been shown to gain a competitive advantage with sustainable business longevity.
This paper examines the influence of family management on corporate charitable donations. Drawing from the literature on socioemotional wealth, we propose that the level of family management and corporate charitable donations presents an inverted U‐shaped relationship, and that this inverted U‐shaped relationship is weakened by firm diversification levels and an unfair competition environment. An analysis of a comprehensive data set comprising 9266 firm‐year observations, encompassing 1445 publicly listed Chinese family firms from 2010 to 2021, provides empirical support for our hypotheses. The results remain robust when accounting for endogeneity concerns. This study contributes to the growing body of research on environmental, social, and governance in the field of finance and accounting, and enhances our knowledge of sustainability practices in family firms.
Entrepreneurship Education zielt darauf, Lernende zu Entrepreneur*Innen zu qualifizieren. Der weit überwiegende Teil der internationalen Entrepreneurship-Education-Forschung geht der Frage nach, wie erfolgreich – gemessen an unterschiedlichen Variablen, hauptsächlich der Gründungsabsicht – sie dabei ist. Dabei wird Entrepreneurship Education in der Regel jedoch unzutreffend als homogenes Gut betrachtet. Anstelle der dominierenden Ergebnis-Orientierung, nimmt der vorliegende Beitrag eine Binnenperspektive ein und geht der Forschungsfrage nach, wie Entrepreneurship auf tertiärer Ebene international gelehrt (Status quo) wird und wie die internationale tertiäre Entrepreneurship-Lehre optimiert werden kann (Verbesserungspotenziale) – im Hinblick auf zu identifizierende entrepreneurship-spezifische Lehr-/Lern-Ziele, Lehr-/Lern-Inhalte, Lehr-/Lern-Methoden und Methoden der Lernerfolgskontrolle. Zu diesem Zweck berichtet der Beitrag über fünf Teilstudien und führt diese zu einem holistischen Entrepreneurship-Curriculum zusammen. Der Status quo wird zum einen aus der Perspektive der Entrepreneurship-Education-Forschung durch eine bibliometrische Analyse und – spezifischer – aus der Perspektive des Teilgebiets der curricularen Entrepreneurship-Education-Forschung durch eine systematische Literaturanalyse, zum anderen aus der Perspektive der entrepreneurship-bezogenen Lehrpraxis mit Hilfe einer Curriculumanalyse ermittelt. Verbesserungspotenziale werden aus der Perspektive von Forschung und Lehre durch eine Delphi-Studie unter Entrepreneurship-Professor*Innen sowie aus der Perspektive der unternehmerischen Praxis durch problemzentrierte Interviews mit Unternehmer*Innen erhoben. Der Beitrag schließt mit theoretischen, lehrpraktischen und bildungspolitischen Implikationen sowie einem Forschungsausblick.
Existing literature suggests that family ownership (FO) reduces exploratory innovation (ERI). Contrary to this conventional view, some family firms are among the world's innovation leaders. Our study aims to reconcile this discrepancy by examining the role of restricted and extended socioemotional wealth in the relationship between FO and ERI. We posit that while FO may inhibit the capacity for ERI due to rigid mental models and cognitive convergence, it fosters the willingness for ERI owing to a long-term orientation. We argue that FO exhibits an inverted U-shaped effect on ERI. Empirical evidence from 938 Chinese-listed family firms between 2011 and 2021 supports our hypothesis. Our findings indicate that FO's influence on ERI is not uniformly detrimental and that a moderate level of FO can promote ERI. Additionally, the latter generational stage (GS) attenuates the inverted U-shaped curve, implying that family firms in the latter GS may exhibit lower levels of ERI. This study offers theoretical and practical insights into FO and technological innovation research domains.
This paper challenges the prevalent notion that family-owned firms are more risk averse than publicly owned firms. Using behavioral theory, we argue that for family firms, the primary reference point is the loss of their socioemotional wealth, and to avoid those losses, family firms are willing to accept a significant risk to their performance; yet at the same time, they avoid risky business decisions that might aggravate that risk. Thus, we propose that the predictions of behavioral theory differ depending on family ownership. We confirm our hypotheses using a population of 1,237 family-owned olive oil mills in Southern Spain who faced the choice during a 54-year period of becoming a member of a cooperative, a decision associated with loss of family control but lower business risk, or remaining independent, which preserves the family's socioemotional wealth but greatly increases its performance hazard. As shown in this study, family firms may be risk willing and risk averse at the same time.
Does owner management necessarily eliminate the agency costs of ownership? Drawing on agency literature and on the economic theory of the household, we argue that private ownership and owner management expose privately held, owner-managed firms to agency threats ignored by Jensen's and Meckling's (1976) agency model. Private ownership and owner management not only reduce the effectiveness of external control mechanisms, they also expose firms to a "self-control" problem created by incentives that cause owners to take actions which "harm themselves as well as those around them" (Jensen 1994, p. 43). Thus, shareholders have incentive to invest resources in curbing both managerialand owner opportunism. We extend this thesis to the domain of the family firm. After developing hypotheses which describe how family dynamics and, specifically, altruism, exacerbate agency problems experienced by these privately held, owner-managed firms, we use data obtained from a large-scale survey of family businesses to field test our hypotheses and find evidence which suggests support for our proposed theory. Finally, we discuss the implications of our theory for research on family and other types of privately held, owner-managed firms.
This article makes the case for the socioemotional wealth (SEW) approach as the potential dominant paradigm in the family business field. The authors argue that SEW is the most important differentiator of the family firm as a unique entity and, as such, helps explain why family firms behave distinctively. In doing so, the authors review the concept of SEW, its different dimensions, and its links with other theoretical approaches. The authors also address the issue of how to measure this construct and offer various alternatives for operationalizing it. Finally, they offer a set of topics that can be pursued in future studies using the SEW approach.
This paper compares the environmental performance of family and nonfamily public corporations between 1998 and 2002, using a sample of 194 U.S. firms required to report their emissions. We found that family-controlled public firms protect their socioemotional wealth by having a better environmental performance than their nonfamily counterparts, particularly at the local level, and that for the nonfamily firms, stock ownership by the chief executive officer (CEO) has a negative environmental impact. We also found that the positive effect of family ownership on environmental performance persists independently of whether the CEO is a family member or serves both as CEO and board chair.
We extend the socioemotional wealth (SEW) perspective by arguing that SEW can be negatively associated with proactive stakeholder engagement (PSE). We further suggest that the SEW dimensions can be associated with positive or negative valence. Lastly, we propose that negatively valenced SEW dimensions lead to family‐centric behavior, which negatively affects PSE. This multifaceted conceptualization of SEW allows us to explain how family firms can partake in harmful stakeholder behaviors despite having seemingly strong SEW. Our paper suggests that SEW can be either an affective endowment or burden for family firms and their constituents.
A growing body of research shows that family firms are different from other organizations in significant ways. In this paper we review this literature by examining how family firms differ from nonfamily firms along five broad categories of managerial decisions. These categories encompass a set of key organizational choices concerning management processes, firm strategies, corporate governance, stakeholder relations and business venturing. We argue that socioemotional wealth or affective endowment of family owners explain many of these choices. We also examine some contingency factors (namely family stage, firm size, firm hazard, and the presence of nonfamily shareholders) that moderate the influence of socioemotional wealth preservation as a point of reference when making managerial decisions in family firms. Lastly, we explore the firm performance consequences of family ownership.
Building on agency and prospect theory views, we construct, in this article, a behavioral agency model of executive risk taking. in the model we combine elements of internal corporate governance with problem framing to explain executive risk-taking behavior. The model suggests that executive risk taking varies across and within different forms of monitoring and that agents may exhibit risk-seeking as well as risk-averse behaviors. We develop specific propositions that combine monitoring with performance and the framing of strategic problems to explain executive choices of strategic risk. The resulting propositions enhance and extend the agency-based corporate governance literature on executive risk taking.
We use an innovative survey tool to collect management practice data from 732 medium-sized firms in the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. These measures of managerial practice are strongly associated with firm-level productivity, profitability, Tobin's Q, and survival rates. Management practices also display significant cross-country differences, with U.S. firms on average better managed than European firms, and significant within-country differences, with a long tail of extremely badly managed firms. We find that poor management practices are more prevalent when product market competition is weak and/or when family-owned firms pass management control down to the eldest sons (primogeniture).
In this paper, we bring structural holes theory to different cultural contexts by studying the effect of structural holes in four high-tech companies in China and assessing whether they confer the benefits to individuals occupying the brokering position in a career network that have been found in Western contexts. On the level of national culture, we propose that the typical collectivistic culture of China will dampen the effects of structural holes. On the organizational level, we propose that in organizations that foster a high-commitment culture--a culture that emphasizes mutual investment between people--the control benefits of structural holes are dissonant with the dominant spirit of cooperation ,and the information benefits of structural holes cannot materialize due to the communal-sharing values in such organizations. Empirical results of network surveys confirm our hypotheses, and interview data add depth to our explanations. Brokers do not fit with the collectivistic values of China. Further, the more an organization possesses a clan-like, high-commitment culture, the more detrimental are structural holes for employees' career achievements such as salary or bonus, even after controlling for a host of other factors that may influence these career outcomes. In high commitment organizations, the "integrators" who bring people together to fill structural holes enjoy greater career benefits. Publicado
History is replete with examples of spectacular ascents of family businesses. Yet there are also numerous accounts of family businesses brought down by bitter feuds among family members, disappointed expectations between generations, and tragic sagas of later generations unable to manage their wealth. A large fraction of businesses throughout the world are organized around families. Why are family firms so prevalent? What are the implications of family control for the governance, financing and overall performance of these businesses?
Outside the United States and the United Kingdom, large corporations usually have controlling owners, who are usually very wealthy families. Pyramidal control structures, cross shareholding, and super-voting rights let such families control corporations without making a commensurate capital investment. In many countries, a few such families end up controlling considerable proportions of their countries' economies. Three points emerge. First, at the firm level, these ownership structures, because they vest dominant control rights with families who often have little real capital invested, permit a range of agency problems and hence resource misallocation. If a few families control large swaths of an economy, such corporate governance problems can attain macroeconomic importance--affecting rates of innovation, economywide resource allocation, and economic growth. If political influence depends on what one controls, rather than what one owns, the controlling owners of pyramids have greatly amplified political influence relative to their actual wealth. This influence can distort public policy regarding property rights protection, capital markets, and other institutions. We denote this phenomenon economic entrenchment, and posit a relationship between the distribution of corporate control and institutional development that generates and preserves economic entrenchment as one possible equilibrium. The literature suggests key determinants of economic entrenchment, but has many gaps where further work exploring the political economy importance of the distribution of corporate control is needed.
Since the mid-eighties, attention both of professionals and academics has been drawn on the " Family Business " phenomenon". Research on the family companies has known a significant renewal of interest, mostly in the Anglo-Saxon world. Recently, the economic and financial press echoed this revival of interest for the family company. This work tries to draw up a state of research and publications in this field.
The purpose of this chapter is to outline the development of the idea of "stakeholder management" as it has come to be applied in strategic management. We begin by developing a brief history of the concept. We then suggest that traditionally the stakeholder approach to strategic management has several related characteristics that serve as distinguishing features. We review recent work on stakeholder theory and suggest how stakeholder management has affected the practice of management. We end by suggesting further research questions.
Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach was first published in 1984 as a part of the Pitman series in Business and Public Policy. Its publication proved to be a landmark moment in the development of stakeholder theory. Widely acknowledged as a world leader in business ethics and strategic management, R. Edward Freeman’s foundational work continues to inspire scholars and students concerned with a more practical view of how business and capitalism actually work. Business can be understood as a system of how we create value for stakeholders. This worldview connects business and capitalism with ethics once and for all. On the 25th anniversary of publication, Cambridge University Press are delighted to be able to offer a new print-on-demand edition of his work to a new generation of readers.
In this paper we review the academic evidence on earnings management and its implications for accounting standard setters and regulators. We structure our review around questions likely to be of interest to standard setters. In particular, we review the empirical evidence on which specific accruals are used to manage earnings, the magnitude and frequency of any earnings management, and whether earnings management affects resource allocation in the economy. Our review also identifies a number of opportunities for future research on earnings management.
Family firms depend on a succession of capable heirs to stay afloat. If talent and IQ are inherited, this problem is mitigated. If, however, progeny talent and IQ display mean reversion (or worse), family firms are eventually doomed. This is the essence of the critique of family firms in Burkart, Panunzi and Shleifer (2003). Since family firms persist, solutions to this succession problem must exist. We submit that marriage can transfuse outside talent and reinvigorate family firms. This implies that changes to the institution of marriage – notably, a decline in arranged marriages in favor of marriages for “love” – bode ill for the survival of family firms. Consistent with this, the predominance of family firms correlates strongly across countries with plausible proxies for arranged marriage norms. Interestingly, family firm dominance interacted with arranged marriage norms also correlates with lower GDP per capita, suggesting that cultural inertia may also impede convergence to more efficient economic organization.
We ask whether choices aimed at preserving socioemotional wealth (SEW) represent an asset or a liability in family-controlled firms. Specifically, we consider one major SEW-preserving mechanism—having as chief executive officer (CEO) a member of the controlling family—and hypothesize that this choice is (1) an asset in business contexts, such as industrial districts, in which tacit rules and social norms are relatively more important, but (2) a potential liability in contexts like stock exchange markets, where formal regulations and transparency principles take center stage. The results from our empirical analysis confirm these hypotheses.
The differences among family firms can be as telling as their overall distinctiveness from other forms of enterprise. In order to advance and condition the arguments of Wilson, Wright, and Scholes, we employ a typology of family firm evolutionary development to illustrate how changes in patterns of family involvement in the business can influence several socioemotional wealth priorities and how these in turn can shape the board composition required to enhance firm survival. We conclude by arguing how public listing and environmental competitive circumstances can condition these relationships.
While family business research has prominently recognized that family firms are motivated by nonfinancial factors, the literature has remained relatively silent about whether or not these firms are more likely than others to engage actively with their stakeholders, who often have nonpecuniary demands. This paper argues that family firms are more prone to adopt proactive stakeholder engagement (PSE) activities because by doing so they preserve and enhance their socioemotional wealth (SEW). We explore the impact of the different dimensions of SEW on PSE and identify distinctive logics that explain the adoption of such practices. Finally, we offer a set of topics for future studies.
Although family-owned and managed firms are the predominant form of business organization in the world today, little systematic research exists on these companies. This paper builds upon insights found in the emerging literature on these enterprises and upon our own observations to provide a conceptual framework to better understand these complex organizations. We introduce the concept of the Bivalent Attributes—a unique, inherent feature of an organization that is the source of both advantages and disadvantages— to explain the dynamics of the family firm.
1. Introduction to the Institutional Logics Perspective 2. Precursors to the Institutional Logics Perspective 3. Defining the Inter-institutional System 4. The Emergence, Stability and Change of the Inter-institutional System 5. Micro-Foundations of Institutional Logics 6. The Dynamics of Organizational Practices and Identities 7. The Emergence and Evolution of Field-Level Logics 8. Implications for Future Research
Agency theory argues that firm performance will be greater when firm ownership and firm control are closely linked. This study examines that premise by comparing the performance of firms that are family-owned and family-managed with a group that is professionally managed. Previous research on the relation between firm governance and performance has focused primarily on the largest firms, ignoring the more prevalent organizational form -- the family owned and operated firms. A survey was administered to a sample of smaller manufacturing firms in Indiana. The 186 responding firms were then categorized as family owned and managed or professionally managed (however owned). The survey examined hypotheses related to firm size, firm age and growth strategies of the family firms vs. the professionally managed firms. Also examined were firm performance and the use of internal control procedures. Differences in structure, process and strategy were found between the two groups. There is some evidence of better performance for the family firm. Each firm of governance has associated costs; these costs need further examination.
The research regarding the characteristics of family firm governance are mixed, with some studies suggesting the presence of benefits of concentrated ownership and others suggesting increased conflict among family employees.To better understand the functioning of family businesses, both the positive and negative aspects of family firm governance must be explored. Initially, the background information on the characteristics of public firms is discussed, as is the agency of private owner-managed firms.The agency issues of these firms are then compared and contrasted to the agency issues at controlling-owner family firms.Both the negative aspects and the positive aspects of parental altruism are discussed.The impact of the stage of ownership is also examined, including the effects of sibling ownership and cousin consortium. Based on this information, several propositions are presented.The main thesis focuses upon the distinctive governing characteristics of family firms--i.e., family firms are a combination of the characteristics of private ownership, owner-management, and altruism. The implications of the propositions are discussed, limitations, and areas for future research are presented. (AKP)
Family firms depend on a succession of capable heirs to stay afloat. If talent and IQ are inherited, this problem is mitigated. If, however, progeny talent and IQ display mean reversion (or worse), family firms are eventually doomed. Since family firms persist, solutions to this succession problem must exist. We submit that marriage can transfuse outside talent and reinvigorate family firms. This implies that changes to the institution of marriage — notably, a decline in arranged marriages in favor of marriages for “love” — bode ill for the survival of family firms. Consistent with this, the predominance of family firms correlates strongly across countries with plausible proxies for arranged marriage norms.
Most family businesses simply don't grow. This paper explores the reasons for and theories behind business stagnation and proposes a set of “best practices” that can revitalize a firm and enhance its performance.
There is controversy in the literature about the effects of ownership on strategy and performance. Some scholars have taken agency explanations as definitive, arguing that closely held firms outperform. Empirical studies, however, show conflicting findings for firms with concentrated ownership: lone founder firms outperform, family firms do not. Such conflicts may be due to the failure of agency theory to distinguish between the social contexts of these different types of owners. We argue that explanations of performance must take into account not simply ownership, but who are the owners or executives and how their social contexts may influence their strategic priorities. Family owners and CEOs, influenced by family stakeholders in the business, are argued to assume the role identities and logics of family nurturers and thus strategies of conservation. By contrast, lone founders, influenced by a wider set of market-oriented stakeholders, are argued to embrace the identities and logics of entrepreneurs and strategies of growth. Family founders and founder-executives are held to blend both orientations. These notions are supported in a study of Fortune 1000 companies.
This paper studies the determinants of executive turnover and firm valuation as a function of ownership and control structure in Italy, a country that features low legal protection for investors, firms with controlling shareholders, and pyramidal groups. The results suggest that there is poor governance, as measured by a low sensitivity of turnover to performance and a low Q ratio, when (i) the controlling shareholders are also top executives, (ii) the control is fully in the hands of one shareholder and is not shared by a set of core shareholders, and (iii) the controlling shareholders own less than 50% of the firm's cash-flow rights.
Surprisingly, the majority of U.S. family firms offer employed family members short- and long-term performance-based incentive pay. We draw on the household economics and altruism literatures to explain why family firms might feel compelled to do so and develop theory that predicts when this practice will be beneficial. Results based on data obtained from 883 family firms show that altruism, as reflected by the parents' estate and share transfer intentions, moderates the effect of these pay incentives as our theory predicts. As such, this article helps explain both how altruism influences agency relationships in family firms and why business practice in family firms differs from those found in other types of firms.
This study examines diversification decisions of family firms and suggests that on average family firms diversify less both domestically and internationally than non-family firms. When they do diversify, family firms tend to opt for domestic rather than international diversification, and those that go the latter route prefer to choose regions that are 'culturally close'. Lastly, we find that family firms are more willing to diversify as business risk increases. The hypotheses are tested using a sample of 360 firms, 160 of them being family-controlled and the rest (200) non-family-controlled. Copyright (c) 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation (c) 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and Society for the Advancement of Management Studies.
This paper investigates the diffusion and institutionalization of change in formal organization structure, using data on the adoption of civil service reform by cities. It is shown that when civil service procedures are required by the state, they diffuse rapidly and directly from the state to each city. When the procedures are not so legitimated, they diffuse gradually and the underlying sources of adoption change overtime. In the latter case, early adoption of civil service by cities is related to internal organizational requirements, with city characteristics predicting adoption, while late adoption is related to institutional definitions of legitimate structural form, so that city characteristics no longer predict the adoption decision. Overall, the findings provide strong support for the argument that the adoption of a policy or program by an organization is importantly determined by the extent to which the measure is institutionalized — whether by law or by gradual legitimation.
We use an innovative survey tool to collect management practice data from 732 medium-sized firms in the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. These measures of managerial practice are strongly associated with firm-level productivity, profitability, Tobin's Q, and survival rates. Management practices also display significant cross-country differences, with U.S. firms on average better managed than European firms, and significant within-country differences, with a long tail of extremely badly managed firms. We find that poor management practices are more prevalent when product market competition is weak and/or when family-owned firms pass management control down to the eldest sons (primogeniture). (c) 2007 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology..
Standard real business cycle models must rely on total factor productivity (TFP) shocks to explain the observed comovement of consumption, investment, and hours worked. This paper shows that a neoclassical model consistent with observed heterogeneity in labor supply and consumption can generate comovement in the absence of TFP shocks. Intertemporal substitution of goods and leisure induces comovement over the business cycle through heterogeneity in the consumption behavior of employed and unemployed workers. This result owes to two model features introduced to capture important characteristics of U.S. labor market data. First, individual consumption is affected by the number of hours worked: Employed agents consume more on average than the unemployed do. Second, changes in the employment rate, a central factor explaining variation in total hours, affect aggregate consumption. Demand shocks--such as shifts in the marginal efficiency of investment, as well as government spending shocks and news shocks--are shown to generate economic fluctuations consistent with observed business cycles.
We develop and extend social capital theory by exploring the creation of organizational social capital within a highly pervasive, yet often overlooked organizational form: family firms. We argue that family firms are unique in that, although they work as a single entity, at least two forms of social capital coexist: the family's and the firm's. We investigate mechanisms that link a family's social capital to the creation of the family firm's social capital and examine how factors underlying the family's social capital affect this creation. Moreover, we identify contingency dimensions that affect these relationships and the potential risks associated with family social capital. Finally, we suggest these insights are generalizable to several other types of organizations with similar characteristics. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2007.
Two major perspectives can be construed in the literature concerning the nature of family owned businesses (FOBs). The first implies that these enterprises have unique characteristics of stewardship. FOB owners are said to care deeply about the long-term prospects of the business, in large part because their family's fortune, reputation and future are at stake. Their stewardship is said to be manifested by unusual devotion to the "continuity" of the company, by more assiduous nurturing of a "community" of employees, and by seeking out closer "connections" with customers to sustain the business. The second perspective is less flattering. It proposes that FOBs are unusually subject to stagnation: they are said to face unique resource restrictions, embrace conservative strategies, eschew growth, and be doomed to short lives. This paper develops and examines the merits of the two perspectives, neither of which has been systematically articulated or researched. It does so in an empirical study of only small firms that are owned and managed by their founder. Within this sample, it compares firms that are FOBs, that is, family owned and managed, with non-FOBs, that is, owned and managed by a founder with no other relative involved in the business. The findings show significant support for all three aspects of the stewardship perspective of FOBs, and no support for any elements of the stagnation perspective. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2007.
Innovation and the preservation of socioemotional wealth
- L R Gómez-Mejía
- M Makri
- R Hoskisson
- D Sirmon
- J Campbell
Gómez-Mejía, L.R., Makri, M., Hoskisson, R., Sirmon, D., & Campbell, J. (2010). Innovation and the
preservation of socioemotional wealth. Working paper. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University.
Managing for the long run: Lessons in competitive advantage from great family businesses
- D Miller
- I Le Breton-Miller
Miller, D. & Le Breton-Miller, I. (2005). Managing for the long run: Lessons in competitive advantage from
great family businesses. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
The neurotic organization
- M Kets De Vries
- D Miller
Kets de Vries, M. & Miller, D. (1984). The neurotic organization. San Fancisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Human dilemmas in family business
- M Kets De Vries
Kets de Vries, M. (1993). Human dilemmas in family business. London: Routledge.
Socioemotional wealth in family firms theoretical dimensions, assessment approaches, and agenda for future research
- P Berrone
- C Cruz
- L R Gomez-Mejia
Berrone, P., Cruz, C., & Gomez-Mejia, L.R. (2012). Socioemotional wealth in family firms theoretical
dimensions, assessment approaches, and agenda for future research. Family Business Review, 25(3), 258-279.
L'entreprise familiale, un état de la recherche Cahiers de LAREGO
- J Allouche
- B Amann
Allouche, J. & Amann, B. (1998). L'entreprise familiale, un état de la recherche. Cahiers de LAREGO,
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Socioemotional wealth across the family firm life cycle. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice
- Le Breton-Miller
- I Miller
Le Breton-Miller, I. & Miller, D. (2013b). Socioemotional wealth across the family firm life cycle. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 37(6), 1391-1397.
Must love kill the family firm
- V Mehrotra
- R K Morck
- J Shim
- Y Wiwattanakang
Mehrotra, V., Morck, R.K., Shim, J., & Wiwattanakang, Y. (2011). Must love kill the family firm. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 35(6), 1121-1148.
Socioemotional wealth across the family firm life cycle
- Le Breton-Miller
Socioemotional wealth in family firms theoretical dimensions, assessment approaches, and agenda for future research
- Berrone
Must love kill the family firm
- Mehrotra