Family Business Research Research Articles

Ritual theory in family business research Approach and preliminary application on long-living family business (shinise) in Japan

Ritual theory in family business research Approach and preliminary application on long-living family business (shinise) in Japan

A Bibliometric Overview of Tourism Family Business

Family businesses are of particular economic relevance in the international hospitality and tourism industry. However, there are few studies that address their specific characteristics and objectives. The aim of this study is to produce a bibliometric overview that reveals the structure underpinning the analysis of the tourism family business in the business and management research field. The study also reveals the evolution of this research over time, as well as the most relevant related concepts and study gaps. Through a keyword co-occurrence analysis and a systematic review of 129 studies on tourism family businesses published between 1997 and 2020, the main contributions were organized into four thematic clusters, which include specific theoretical approaches. The clusters are Entrepreneurship, Marketing Orientation and Innovation Performance; Capabilities and Competitiveness; Sustainability; and Strategy and Economic Performance. On the basis of these results, this study introduces an integrative framework for tourism family business research, clarifying the rich diversity of research paths that seek to explain tourism business competitiveness, and identifying potential directions for future research aimed at further developing the field.

Understanding the Value Logics of Family Business–A Structured Literature Review

Business model is being understood as the value logic in value proposition, capture, exchange, and creation. Family business model is different from non-family business according to its specific identity and characteristics. Because of this, family firms propose value through offering job opportunities prior to their family members, focusing more on establishing stable relationship with their stakeholders, working to realize sustainable development with local community and environment and aiming at achieving long-term orientation goals. This research applied a structured literature review adopting 84 papers to elaborate family logic and connected with family business model. By summarizing the previous papers, we firstly bring family business strategy with business model perspective, identify different patterns of family business models, and explore the interrelationships among the 4 value logics. It contributes to family business research by identifying specific family business model based on value logic lens. It also contributes to business model research by applying value logic lens into family business context.

Family Firms, Family Boundary Organizations, and the Family-Related Organizational Ecosystem

While entrepreneurial families often expand their activity over multiple businesses and patrimonial assets, this complexity is rarely addressed in mainstream family business research, where the predominant focus is on the family business or, at best, on the family controlling the operational business. We advance a more holistic understanding of entrepreneurial families that contemplates the variety of assets they create or acquire over time that jointly generate financial and socioemotional wealth for the family, and call for attention to the variety of organizations that entrepreneurial families establish to preserve, manage, and/or administer such assets. We theorize that each of these organizations can be devised as a family boundary organization (FBO), which operates at the interface of the entrepreneurial family and other systems, and such FBOs form a family-related organizational ecosystem. We propose a new framework that extends the scope of research beyond the family business and focuses more directly on entrepreneurial families and on the boundaries between the entrepreneurial family, its multiple assets, and the FBOs in the family-related organizational ecosystem. This framework paves the ground to extend the three-circle model, broadening the scope of family business research to consider a wider range of organizations besides the family firm, such as family foundations, family business foundations, family offices, family holdings, family academies, and family museums. Drawing on the organizational boundaries literature, we integrate organizational boundaries in the theory of the family firm and propose a research agenda to examine the entrepreneurial family and its assets in a broader way.

Family-owned enterprises and their role in entrepreneurial development: a bibliometric and content analysis of the literature

PurposeFamily business has been widely discussed in the literature. Still, a holistic approach summarizing the family business concept in entrepreneurship is fragmented to date. This paper aims to explore the multimedia view of family business research in entrepreneurship and finds the key theme discussed by researchers.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, a systematic literature review on family business and its role in entrepreneurship have been conducted. The literature review consists of bibliometric and content analyzes. Bibliometric research offers quantitative insights, whereas content analysis provides the qualitative evaluation of the literature.FindingsThe findings suggest that recent research in this area focuses on exploring the role of women entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurship in the family business. The literature also finds that because of the nature of family businesses, successors get the opportunity to use their family’s network, social status, financing and opportunity toward a well-developed market.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper may help researchers and practitioners to identify the past and current research trends related to family business and entrepreneurship.Originality/valueThe concepts from network theory are applied for content analysis to identify and explore various family business and entrepreneurship literature sub-domains.

Endogeneity Issues in Family Business Research: Current Status and Future Recommendations

Although the family business research field and related disciplines are paying increasing attention to improvements in methodology, there is still insufficient attention being paid to endogeneity issues. We therefore raise awareness of endogeneity and suggest ways to reduce biased results in family business studies. We review publications in the family business literature in terms of (1) the consideration of endogeneity issues, (2) sources of endogeneity for different research topics, and (3) various methods that researchers have used to control for endogeneity. We discuss important lessons learned from the review and offer methodologically oriented recommendations for future family business studies.

Conceptualizing family business social responsibility

This article expands family business and CSR research in a number of ways. Its first purpose is to redesign two core corporate social responsibility (CSR) theories (stakeholder theory and Carroll's CSR pyramid), enhancing their relevance for the family business domain. This extension is built by incorporating familiness and SEW as components of family business social responsibility (FBSR), respectively as basis for ethical behavior and as idiosyncratic value system for decision-making. Second, by positioning the ownership system, the business system, and the family system at the hub of its constellation of stakeholders, three configurations are produced: instrumental (doing good in order to do well), normative (doing well and doing good) and dynastic (doing good through doing well). The expanded versions of theory and ensuing configurations have value to both the domain of CSR and that of family business; the theorization of family business social responsibility constitutes a much-needed bridge between family business and CSR, making contributions to research, policy and practice.

Advancing family business research through modeling nonlinear relationships: Comparing PLS-SEM and multiple regression

While nonlinear relationships play an important role in explaining distinct family business behaviors and outcomes, researchers rarely consider them in their theoretical and statistical models. To address this concern, this article introduces partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) as a suitable means for estimating nonlinear effects in latent variable models and describes its advantages vis-à-vis multiple (sum scores) regression. We conceptually compare and empirically illustrate the two methods by means of a family business research model. Based on our discussions, we provide family business researchers with a checklist of best practice recommendations when applying PLS-SEM. The article adds new methodological instruments to the family business researchers’ toolbox that enable them to explain and explore the mutual and often nonlinear interactions between family and business. Thereby, this research contributes to more rigorous and meaningful family business science.

Family ownership and cooperative R&D: the moderating effect of political ties

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the impact of family ownership on cooperative research and development (R&D). Drawing on the ability and willingness paradox framework in family business research, the authors suggest that family ownership influences cooperative R&D via two opposing mechanisms: power concentration and wealth concentration. It also deepens the current understanding of the boundary conditions of informal institutions for the impact of family ownership on cooperative R&D by investigating the moderating role of political ties.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analyze a panel of 610 Chinese manufacturing family firms and 2,127 firm-year observations from 2009 to 2017. Fixed effects regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses, with the two-stage Heckman model to address sample selection bias.FindingsThe research findings indicate that family ownership has an inverted U-shaped relationship with cooperative R&D and political ties moderate the relationship in such a way that the inverted U-shaped relationship will be steeper in firms with more political ties than in firms with fewer political ties.Practical implicationsFamily ownership influences firms’ cooperative R&D through the positive effect of power concentration and the negative effect of wealth concentration. Family owners should, therefore, take advantage of concentrated power, for instance, by adapting quickly and committing sufficient resources to cooperative R&D opportunities, while controlling path-dependent relationship development caused by concentrated family wealth. The effect of political ties on the relationship between family ownership and cooperative R&D is found to be a double-edged sword.Originality/valueThis study extends the ability and willingness paradox framework and provides novel insights into cooperative R&D in family businesses by integrating power concentration and wealth concentration associated with family ownership. Moreover, this study provides a contingency perspective and introduces the moderating role of political ties in shaping cooperative R&D in family firms.

Conceptualizing cross-country analyses of family firms: A systematic review and future research agenda

The national context in which family firms operate influences their behavior and firm-related outcomes. Especially how and why family businesses differ across contexts has therefore received growing interest. Yet, the insights on family businesses across countries remain fragmented and lack integration, especially regarding how the cross-country context is operationalized. Building on comparative cross-national research, this review aims to bridge the disciplines of international business and family business. I analyze the current field of cross-country family business research building on a systematic literature review of 105 peer-reviewed studies in the period 2000–2020 with the goal to collect and structure the current body of knowledge and build a future research agenda. The findings highlight different approaches that family business research utilizes to operationalize “cross-country” elements, outlining how research applies direct comparisons between countries and comparisons based upon theoretical perspectives. Building upon this conceptualization of cross-country operationalizations, the study provides several new avenues for future research.

Family businesses and employment relations: Review and suggestions for future research

This paper seeks to identify and summarise the big issues at the intersection of family businesses and employment relations business literatures. Family businesses have additional complexities compared with non-family businesses. Thus, the aim of this paper is to throw light on why this intersection is of interest in New Zealand and rationalise the need to research employment relations in the context of family businesses. We first present family businesses as an area for research by outlining the landscape of family businesses in New Zealand, followed by a review of the foundations of family business and employment relations research. We then highlight and discuss three overarching themes: familiness or family dynamics; formalisation/professionalisation; and incorporating employment relations perspectives. Finally, we conclude with future research directions and canvas potential research questions to introduce ways researchers can enhance our understanding of employment relations in family firms.

Founding or succeeding? Exploring how family embeddedness shapes the entrepreneurial intentions of the next generation

In this study, we explore how a unique social institution, the family business, contributes to the transition from latent to emergent entrepreneurship by shaping the entrepreneurial intentions of the next generation. In line with the family embeddedness perspective, we argue that the enterprising family and the family enterprise, as two intertwined units of analysis pertaining to the family business context, influence the intention to found a new venture or succeed in the family business. Using an international sample of 40,508 students with a family business background, our findings reveal which specific factors related to either the family or the business explain next generation's preferences for succeeding over founding. The results extend our understanding of the role played by institutions in knowledge spillover theory and contribute to family business research on the succession process and its determinants.

Family Business Continuance: A Review for Future Research

The process of changing leaders from the previous leaders to the recent leaders is a critical moment in family business continuance. The complex issue of succession needs an in-depth understanding of researches. This paper's objective was to review several works of literature with regards to succession in the family business. Moreover, this study discovered future research potentials concerning family business succession. This study reviewed, summarized, and combined the past and extant works of literature. China, Malaysia, Pakistan, Slovenia, and Tunisia emerged as the locus of study. This study performed a review using keywords of family business and succession to look for a comprehensive database. This study found that each country has a different culture in doing their family business succession. The most influential factor was the belief of the predecessor. For instance, the Chinese families were following Confucian rules, the Pakistani and Malaysian families were following Islamic laws, and the predecessors influenced the Tunisian families in involving their children in their family business. Meanwhile, the first generation still dominated the family business in Slovenia without any succession plan. The results show opportunities for a new research agenda. First, the comparison of family business succession between various ethnic groups. Second, the reason(s) for a family business to not set its succession plan. Keywords: business continuance, family business research, literature review, succession

Corporate social responsibility in family firms: A systematic literature review

ABSTRACT The field of CSR in family firms has experienced remarkable growth recently. Therefore, a literature review on the topic is needed to provide an updated overview of extant research and draw guidelines for future research. Using bibliometric mapping, we conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in family business drawing on the Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus databases. The bibliographic coupling conducted suggests that family involvement, corporate governance, and sustainability are the most frequently studied topics. Furthermore, through our SLR, we systematized the studies into an interpretative framework, identifying the drivers and outcomes of CSR practices, processes, and strategies in family business. The study reveals and organizes the state-of-the-art of CSR research in family business, outlines important theoretical implications and develops a future research agenda.

Research on Interlocking Directorates in Family Business: Evidence from Scopus Bibliometric Data

We examined the trend of studies on interlocking directorates in family businesses using bibliometric data mined from the Scopus database. Search terms including “family business” and seven other variant terms (including family ownership) plus a wildcard (interlock*) yielded only 17 peer-reviewed papers written in the English Language, published between 1999 and 2020. We used graphical tools to summarise the data. Pearson’s r was employed to analyse the data on three of Scopus’ bibliometric indicators (CiteScore, SCImago Journal Rank, and Source Normalized Impact per Paper) using JASP. The only 17 articles on interlocking directorates in family business poorly compare with the 4,792 articles returned when the wildcard was dropped. Thus, the data show that interlocking directorates in family businesses is a grossly neglected niche in the otherwise steadily maturing field of family business research. The distribution of the scanty literature by country of origin, research purpose pursued, theories employed as explanatory frameworks, the most frequently studied interlocking directorate typologies, and their respective implications were pointed out.

Trust and reputation in family businesses: A systematic literature review of past achievements and future promises

Family businesses have traditionally been recognised for their trustworthiness and reputation. Interestingly, the extant literature suggests the influence of reputation and trust on family businesses’ long-term financial success. However, despite the increasing attention the topic has received, a comprehensive overview of trust and reputation in family businesses remains lacking. The current study aims to critically examine and review the extant research on trust and reputation in the context of family businesses and uncover current research trends and future research opportunities. We identified and critically analysed 93 studies through a stringent search protocol and content analysis to achieve the research objective. Based on thematic analysis, we identified four clusters reflecting family business research on trust and reputation. The key outcome is the elucidation of research themes and potential research questions exploring drivers and consequences of trust and reputation. The findings indicate that trust and reputation are crucial for developing relationships with stakeholders and achieving economic and non-economic goals. We integrate our findings into a theoretical framework that can serve to motivate future research. We conclude by clarifying the limitations of our research, offering actionable implications for researchers and family business managers and attempting theory development by raising new research questions.

WANTED—Theoretical Contributions: An Editorial on the Pitfalls and Pathways in Family Business Research

WANTED—Theoretical Contributions: An Editorial on the Pitfalls and Pathways in Family Business Research

Lone-founder firms in China: Replicating Miller et al. (2007) in a different context

We replicate, in the Chinese context, a study undertaken in 2007 by Miller, Le Breton-Miller, Lester, and Cannella (MLLC), which examined the performance differences among lone-founder firms, family firms, and nonfamily firms in the U.S. Our goal was to test the generalizability of MLLC’s findings, as well as uncover contextual nuances that might exist in a markedly different institutional context that also includes state-owned enterprises. Our results corroborate MLLC’s finding that lone-founder firms outperform other types of firms. We also find that when family ownership is at lower levels, family firms and nonfamily firms seem to have similar performance; however, family firms have a performance advantage at higher levels of family ownership. Finally, we find that state-owned enterprises are outperformed by lone-founder, family and nonfamily firms. Our study highlights the importance of distinguishing among different types of nonfamily firms, between family and lone-founder firms, and among family firms with different levels of family ownership. We discuss the implications of our findings and offer suggestions for future research in family business.

Bringing family firm history to light: A systematic review of history in family business research (WITHDRAWN)

Research on history-related issues in family businesses is an expanding, yet nascent field that is rife with widely dispersed, loosely connected studies about the role that the past plays in future courses of action. Integrating viewpoints from organizational history scholarship, this paper delineates the notion of rhetorical history to propose history as narratively reconstructed accounts which are used to motivate action toward a collective future-state. Based on this understanding we systematically review 52 history-related family business studies from 25 journals and 4 books. Findings from the review show that the past in family firms is embodied through a collection of intangible and tangible resources such as founders’ heritage and lega-cy, material artifacts and living memory. Our review reveals the strategies of invoking, modi-fying and inventing or selectively forgetting this embodied past and, additionally, the conse-quences history has for the future course of actions. Synthesized in an integrative framework, we unpack family firm history as an embodied and conscious resource which is malleable in use and is inseparably linked to and deeply embedded in family firm consequences. We offer four research directions particularly worthy of further exploration for developing and extend-ing theory in the field of family business history research.

A New Era for EJFB

A New Era for EJFB