Mattias Nordqvist

Entrepreneurial Orientation, Risk Taking, and Performance in Family Firms

This article focuses on risk taking as one important dimension of entrepreneurial orientation and its impact in family firms. Drawing on a sample of Swedish SMEs, we find that risk taking is a distinct dimension of entrepreneurial orientation in family firms and that it is positively associated with proactiveness and innovation. We also find that even if family firms do take risks while engaged in entrepreneurial activities, they take risk to a lesser extent than nonfamily firms. Moreover, and most importantly for our understanding of entrepreneurial orientation in family firms, we find that risk taking in family firms is negatively related to performance. Both theoretical and practical implications of our findings are provided.

Entrepreneurship as Radical Change in the Family Business : Exploring the Role of Cultural Patterns

This article explores the relationship between organizational culture and the entrepreneurial process that is viewed as radical change in the context of the family business. Drawing on results from two in-depth family business case studies, the authors develop a conceptual model for understanding organizational culture and its impact on entrepreneurial activities. The model is built around the extent to which the culture is connected to one dominant family member or several family members, the degree of cultural explicitness, and the degree of cultural openness. It is argued that whereas some cultural patterns tend to preserve the traditional way of doing business, others tend to facilitate entrepreneurial change. The conclusion is that to support entrepreneurial processes, managers need to foster a process of high-order learning in which old cultural patterns are continuously questioned and changed. To accomplish this, the organizational culture needs to be highly explicit and open.

Why Do Family Firms Strive for Nonfinancial Goals? An Organizational Identity Perspective

This paper develops an organizational identity–based rationale for why family firms strive for nonfinancial goals. We show that the visibility of the family in the firm, the transgenerational sustainability intentions of the family, and the capability of the firm for self–enhancement of the family positively influence the importance of identity fit between family and firm as well as the familys concern for corporate reputation. We suggest that the concern for corporate reputation leads the family to pursue nonfinancial goals to the benefit of nonfamily stakeholders. We also discuss reinforcing feedback loops in these processes.

Professional Management in Family Businesses: Toward an Extended Understanding

Our purpose is to challenge the dominant meaning of professional management in family business research and to suggest an extended understanding of the concept. Based on a review of selected literature on professional management and with insights from cultural theory and symbolic interactionism, we draw on interpretive case research to argue that professional family business management rests on two competencies, formal and cultural, of which only the former is explicitly recognized in current family business literature. We elaborate on the meanings and implications of cultural competence and argue that without it a CEO of a family business is likely to work less effectively, no matter how good the formal qualifications and irrespective of family membership.

From Longevity of Firms to Transgenerational Entrepreneurship of Families Introducing Family Entrepreneurial Orientation

Whereas existing research on the longevity of family firms has focused on the survival of firms, this article investigates transgenerational entrepreneurship of families. By building on the transgenerational entrepreneurship research framework, the authors argue that by shifting from firm to family level of analysis, one gains a deeper understanding of family firms’ ability to create value across generations. The authors find evidence for their argument in that such a level shift reveals extended entrepreneurial activity, which is missed when focusing exclusively on the firm level. The study introduces and empirically explores the construct of family entrepreneurial orientation, which may serve as an antecedent to transgenerational value creation by families.

Entrepreneurial families and family firms

While studies of entrepreneurship and family business have to a great extent developed independently, there are some indications that they are now moving closer to each other. The purpose of this special issue is to contribute to an increased scholarly interest in research that integrates the areas of entrepreneurship and family business. This introductory article elaborates upon the meaning of entrepreneurial families and family firms. Based on a review of a significant amount of previous literature and the articles in this special issue, we generate a guiding framework around three themes – actor, activity and attitude. We argue that research focusing on specific topics within these themes has great potential to contribute to our theoretical and empirical understanding of entrepreneurship and family firms. We also share a note on why we believe Entrepreneurship and Regional Development is a suitable arena for publishing research with this orientation. We then introduce the five papers that are included in this special issue using the framework developed to position the papers and thereby to reveal their respective contributions and their advancement of our knowledge. We conclude with reflections on some unexplored themes, which are still very relevant to examine in future research on entrepreneurship and family businesses.

Dynamic capabilities and trans-generational value creation in family firms: The role of organizational culture

While some research on entrepreneurship in family businesses has focused on transgenerational value creation, a gap exists in understanding how such value is generated across generations. The present research offers insights through the lens of dynamic capabilities, which are created by knowledge and in turn generate entrepreneurial performance and value creation. A model is built based on literature and case research. The crucial role of the organizational culture emerges through the empirical study. Family inertia is considered to be a factor preventing the creation of dynamic capabilities. We find that family inertia depends on characteristics of the family business culture, where paternalism and entrepreneurial orientation influence family inertia positively and negatively, respectively. Family firms from Switzerland and Italy active in the beverage industry represent the empirical context. Theoretical and practical implications are offered.

Internationalization of Family‐Controlled Firms: A Study of the Effects of External Involvement in Governance

This research focuses on family–controlled firms as an important type of family firms, and demonstrates how external parties in the governance (ownership and board of directors) can serve as a catalyst for their internationalization. Our framework also embraces the moderating effects of the competitive environmental heterogeneity and past performance on the relationship between external, nonfamily involvement in governance, and internationalization (scale and scope). The hypotheses are tested on a sample of 351 Swedish family–controlled firms. Our findings extend previous research on family firms and their internationalization, especially addressing some of the prior mixed findings, and offers implications for both theory and practice.

Qualitative research on family businesses: The relevance and usefulness of the interpretive approach

Family business research has grown over the last decade and there are increasing requests for deeper insights into the nature and workings of these organizations. Currently, family business research is dominated by quantitative research methods. In this article, we argue that these studies should be complemented by a research approach that is more apt to capture the specific complexity and dynamics unique to family businesses. We suggest that the interpretive approach within the broader umbrella of qualitative methods has this potential. The article discusses issues, choices, requirements and implications for family business scholars engaged in interpretive research. We also offer suggestions for how editors and reviewers can assess interpretative research.

Familiness in Top Management Teams: Commentary on Ensley and Pearson's “An Exploratory Comparison of the Behavioral Dynamics of Top Management Teams in Family and Nonfamily New Ventures: Cohesion, Conflict, Potency, and Consensus”

This commentary elaborates further upon the proposition that “familiness” can serve as a unique advantage in family firms, contributing to more effective behavioral processes in top management teams of family firms. This is done by offering three routes for extension based on the perspective on top management teams, the concept of “familiness,” and the definition of family business adopted in the article.