Naveed Akhter

Is non-family social capital also (or especially) important for family firm performance?

This article reports on a study investigating the effects of both family and non-family social capital on firm performance. Specifically, we contend that non-family social capital has a stronger effect on firm performance than family social capital and it also serves as a mediator between family social capital and firm performance. Using a sample of 172 Spanish family firms that includes two respondents per firm, we test a structural model that confirms our hypotheses. Our results extend the understanding of social capital beyond family firms by exploring both family- and non-family-based social relationships in a context in which social factors are predominant.

Commitment Escalation to a Failing Family Business

The overarching intent of this manuscript is to heighten awareness to the concept of commitment escalation as it bears on a failing family business. Specifically, drawing on the concept of emotional ownership, together with self‐justification arguments, we (1) identify factors considered to be most forceful in contributing to the presence of commitment escalation and thus, resistance to change in a failing family business, and (2) model these related factors in a form that can serve heuristically to stimulate future empirical research capable of testing for the construct validity of commitment escalation in a family business context.

Kinship and the family business

The purpose of this chapter is to review and synthesise the prior work on kinship in family firms and to open up future research avenues for this interesting and important topic. The study shows th ...