Abstract
Despite several calls for the further study of entrepreneurial orientation in family firms, we still have a fragmented understanding of this topic, whose full potential has yet to be reached. To shed new light on this issue, this article first maps the family business field by carrying out a systematic review and content analysis of the 78 articles identified at the confluence of entrepreneurial orientation and family firms. Our study describes and critically assesses previous research as well as the conclusions reached. Second, this article identifies the main research gaps and provides a path for future investigations.
Highlights
Entrepreneurial orientation (EO), which emerged (Covin & Slevin, 1989; Miller, 1983) as a powerful construct to explain the way companies face the challenging and volatile current environment, has become one of the more relevant constructs in the study of corporate entrepreneurship (Covin, Green, & Slevin, 2006; Wales, 2016; Wales, Gupta, & Mousa, 2013)
Known as “the strategy making processes that provide organizations with a basis for entrepreneurial decisions and actions” (Rauch, Wiklund, Lumpkin, & Frese, 2009, p. 762), EO and its dimensions can vary in different organizational contexts (Lumpkin & Dess, 1996)
Beyond the fact that family firms represent a context for our improved understanding of the EO construct in the general EO literature, the presence of the family as the dominant coalition of the firm (Chrisman, Chua, Pearson, & Barnett, 2012) leads to the need to analyze how some specific features or constructs of family firms (e.g., familiness, concern for socioemotional wealth (SEW) preservation, intra-family succession, or the need to reach family-oriented goals) affect EO and its outcomes
Summary
Entrepreneurial orientation (EO), which emerged (Covin & Slevin, 1989; Miller, 1983) as a powerful construct to explain the way companies face the challenging and volatile current environment, has become one of the more relevant constructs in the study of corporate entrepreneurship (Covin, Green, & Slevin, 2006; Wales, 2016; Wales, Gupta, & Mousa, 2013). The succession process may help us to enlarge our knowledge of the many ways in which family participation in the company influences a firm’s EO, but other frameworks deserve further exploration, including two specific concepts that appeared in the field’s literature: familiness (Habbershon & Williams, 1999) and SEW (Gómez-Mejía et al, 2007) Both concepts have been scarcely researched by the EO and family firm literature according to our review, but both deserve to be fully addressed because they can help capture how both the uniqueness of family firms and their heterogeneity impact the EO within family firms (Casillas et al, 2011; Garcés-Galdeano et al, 2016; Irava & Moores, 2010; Schepers et al, 2014). Our article provides initial insights into a very complex topic, and we strongly encourage others to continue this line of inquiry
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
