Britta Boyd

Promoting Family: A Contingency Model of Family Business Succession

Succession is a challenge to family businesses for a number of reasons, including the need to address the issue of intergenerational handover. This article focuses on one aspect of succession in family business by investigating when family members are preferred as successors. Results from 860 family businesses indicate that specific (tacit) knowledge characteristics combined with a favorable transaction atmosphere, in certain contexts, make a family member the most suitable successor. A conceptual model is presented that outlines when inside-family succession is preferred.

Knowledge related activities in open innovation: managers' characteristics and practices

Theory and practice both have recognised the importance of external knowledge to enhance organisations’ innovation performance. Due to organisations’ growing interest in effectively collaborating with external knowledge sources, research has investigated the importance of firm-external stakeholder interaction in open innovation. Despite valuable insights into the importance of the variety of external knowledge sources to enhance (open) innovation, research has overlooked so far that managers’ characteristics and practices are relevant for the absorption of external knowledge in open innovation. Thus, the purpose of this study is to explore how organisations’ absorptive capacity – exploration, transformation, and exploitation – becomes manifested in managers’ characteristics and practices in open innovation. This article reports on the findings obtained from four case studies of manufacturing and service organisations. Our findings show that the exploration, transformation, and exploitation of external knowledge are associated with a distinct set of managers’ characteristics and practices that capture the dominant pattern of processing external knowledge in open innovation.

Knowledge transfer in family business successions Implications of knowledge types and transaction atmospheres

Purpose – Knowledge often is the fundament for strategic competitive advantage. Thus, it is highly relevant to understand better how knowledge is transferred from one generation to the next in family businesses. The purpose of this paper is to link the competitive advantage realisation in family businesses to the success of transferring strategically valuable knowledge in different business environments to the next generation. Design/methodology/approach – Building on the contingency model of family business succession (Royer et al., 2008) knowledge transfer in family businesses from different cultures is investigated in this paper. From a resource-oriented and transaction cost inspired perspective two family businesses with a similar industry background from China and Europe are compared regarding knowledge transfer in the context of family firm succession taking into account the respective transaction atmosphere. Findings – Different successions for two long-lived family firms are illustrated in a syste...

Entry Mode Strategies into the Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) markets

This article explores the relevance of different entry modes for Danish exporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Internal and external resources that influence the choice of entry modes into the Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) markets are investigated from both a resource-based view (RBV) and a market-based view (MBV). The survey conducted by the University of Southern Denmark in 2012 is based on a sample of 177 Danish SMEs. Our results of this study show that Danish companies entering the BRIC markets mainly prefer low commitment modes. The more traditional internal factors (control, flexibility and risk) were evaluated less important than personnel and financial resources for the BRIC markets. The most important external factor was market potential whereas the trade barriers, cultural distance as well as the political and economical risk are viewed as main obstacles when internationalizing into distant markets. Managers can compensate the loss of control when choosing the lower commitment modes into distant markets by forming business networks and thereby gaining local knowledge.

Managing Turbulence: Business Model Development in a Family-Owned Airline

How can a family business reduce environmental uncertainty and dependence by developing its business model, changing the logic of creating and capturing value through its activities? Cimber, a Denmark-based family-owned airline, has developed different business models since its establishment in 1950. Resource dependence theory can help illuminate the actions that Cimber took in this process. The family played an important role in balancing internal and external influences, shaping the scope and complexity of the business model, and creating specific path dependencies.

The suitability of internal versus external successors: relevant knowledge types in family business succession

Understanding knowledge transfer in family firm succession is important for the survival of family firms. Previous research has begun to explore the suitability of internal versus external successor in family firms with regard to relevant knowledge types. This paper builds on the contingency model of family business succession in order to understand when family successors are preferred because of their family-specific experiential knowledge. A case study analysis from the German-Danish border region explores how a family firm has used internal successors for the last 12 successions. We argue that in industries where tacit knowledge forms the basis for competitive advantage, the use of internal successors can help family firms excel after a transition of power has occurred. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed to enhance the long-term perspective for family businesses.

Sustainable management in long-lived family businesses - a resource-based analysis of Northern German builder's providers

Since the UNCED (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, sustainable development is a socio-political goal all over the world and it becomes even more relevant with regard to the recent discussion on climate change and the financial crisis. According to family business research, sustainability – here defined as social, economic and ecologic long-term orientation – seems to overlap partly with the resources of long-lived family businesses. This case study research concentrates on the sustainable management of family owned builders providers which are at least in the fourth generation. The resource-based analysis shows how these long-lived family businesses use their sustainable resources and capabilities to stay competitive. As a result, the sustainable management concept for family businesses will be presented.

Entrepreneurial intention of Danish students: a correspondence analysis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the entrepreneurial intention (EI) among Danish university students applying the theory of planned behaviour. Design/methodology/approach Using cross-sectional data from the Danish Global University Student Spirit Survey 2013 (n=1,027) the analysis is based on a joint correspondence analysis (JCA) investigating the relationships between the variables. Findings Results indicate that students prefer a career as employee showing a low EI. Both very high and very low EI are related to very high/low self-efficacy and perception of entrepreneurial climate and learning. Research limitations/implications The study points to an improvement of entrepreneurship education through customised offers dependent on the student’s level of EI and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Originality/value Moreover, this study has proven that the JCA is a useful method to analyse the relationship between EI and other related variables in an exploratory study.

Competitive Advantage in Long-Lived Family Firms: Implications of Market Characteristics and Strategically Relevant Knowledge

Literature concerning intra-family succession versus non-family succession is still limited. As a result, we know relatively little about the impact of an internal succession on keeping strategically relevant knowledge inside the business. Consequently, this chapter’s primary research interest is the interplay between market context and strategically relevant knowledge resources in long-lived family firms. Based on the market-based view and resource theory, we suggest that in some market environments, family-business-specific experiential knowledge forms a basis for competitive advantage and that such knowledge can be transferred to internal successors easier than to external successors. Several propositions are developed and discussed in relation to six case studies of long-lived family businesses from different market contexts. As a result, we put forward four revised propositions for future research to investigate.

Book Review: Globalisation and Entrepreneurship: Policy and Strategy Perspectives

Globalisation and Entrepreneurship: Policy and Strategy Perspectives, by Hamid Etemad and Richard Wright. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2003. 251 pp.