Abstract
Studies conducted on innovation in family businesses have offered very diverse and sometimes contradictory results. The objective of this paper is to analyze the influence of time-related variables on the innovative behavior of companies. Furthermore, we compare the behavior of family and non-family companies, the influence of the generation and the transference of management. To do this, companies are classified according to the stage of life in which they are and are compared using a mean difference test (Anova). Subsequently, already focused on family businesses, the effects of generating control in the case of family businesses are analyzed, considering the foundational and subsequent periods. The results show that the behavior towards the innovation of family businesses is conditioned by the temporal dimension.
Highlights
The family-owned nature of the firm influences the processes of innovation (De Massis, Frattini and Lichtenthaler, 2013)
As we have seen in previous sections, when we reflect on the theoretical framework for the study of family businesses, we find a broad group of theories, many of them complementary to each other and mostly from the field of organization, psychology, economics and law
Craig and Moores use a longitudinal sample of family businesses, analyzed in two moments with an interval of 10 years of difference and find a relationship that innovation is related to the life cycle of the company, since companies analyzed family members show significantly higher levels of innovation in the early stages of their development. This innovative drive does not disappear over time, as consolidated family businesses seem to attach great importance to innovation management. These results suggest that innovation continues to be of considerable importance for family businesses, even for those operating in sectors considered more traditional
Summary
The family-owned nature of the firm influences the processes of innovation (De Massis, Frattini and Lichtenthaler, 2013). Regarding the innovative orientation of family firms, there are two different streams in the literature. Family firms are developed from the entrepreneurial spirit of the founder, trying to maintain this entrepreneurial impulse across generations (Casillas, Moreno, and Barbero, 2011; Eddleston, Kellermanns, and Zellweger, 2012; Zellweger, Nason, and Nordqvist, 2012). Some authors argue that family firms are not willing to afford risks and become more conservative along the time (Naldi et al, 2007; Zahra, 2005). De Massis, Kotlar, Chua and Chrisman (2014) point that there is no clear evidence about the innovative behavior of family firms. Previous research offers mixed results that can be explained by measurement factors (Rutherford, Kuratko and Holt, 2008), or by means of missing mediators or moderators behavior (De Massis, Chirico, Kotlar and Naldi, 2014)
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