Innovation Performance and Family Firms

A special issue of Administrative Sciences (ISSN 2076-3387).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2021) | Viewed by 11022

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Business Administration, University of Zaragoza, 50005 Zaragoza, Spain
Interests: family firms; internationalization; science parks
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Business and Economics, University of Zaragoza, 50005 Zaragoza, Spain
Interests: family firms; performance

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is a well-known fact that innovation has become one of the most important strategic decisions when it comes to being competitive in current global markets. As a result, family firms are seeking new sources of competitive advantage to ensure they are successful in their innovation strategy. In this search process, different strategies may promote the innovation behavior of family firms in their production processes and/or products, which creates a new context for innovation management in family firms. These mainly include the following:

  • The increasing internationalization;
  • The role of human capital in family firm innovativeness;
  • The growing strategic importance of issues related to sustainability;
  • The increasing significance of technological collaborations;
  • The role of science and technological parks;
  • The importance of socioemotional wealth issues;
  • The increasing professional management in family firms;
  • Other issues related to innovation management in family firms.

The innovativeness of a family firm therefore depends on a variety of determinants that affect its performance. It is expected that R&D activities in family firms and the efficient application of innovation processes enable survival and improve their capacity to compete on international markets. This Special Issue will comprise a selection of papers addressing approaches to the innovation activity and performance of family firms.

References (optional)

Arregle, J-L, Duran, P., Hitt, M.A. & van Essen, M. (2016). Why Is Family Firms’ Internationalization Unique? A Meta-Analysis. Entrepreneurship, Theory and Practice (15 August). doi:10.1111/etap.12246

Bigliardi, B., Galati, F. (2018). Family firms and collaborative innovation: present debates and future research. European Journal of Innovation Management, 21 (2): 334-358.

Calabrò, A., Vecchianrini, M., Gast, J., Campopiano, G., De Massis, A., Kraus, S. (2018). Innovation in Family Firm: A systematic literature review and guidance for future research. International Journal of Management Reviews, 00, 1-39.

Chen, H.L., & Hsu, W.T. (2009). Family, Ownership, Board Independence, and R&D Investment. Family Business Review, 22 (4): 347-362.

De Massis, A., Kotlar, J., Campopiano, G., & Cassia, L. (2015). The Impact of Family Involvement on SMEs’ Performance: Theory and Evidence. Journal of Small Business Management, 53(4), 924–948.

De Massis, A., Frattini, F., Majocchi, A., & Piscitello, L. (2018). Family firms in the global economy: toward a deeper understanding of internationalization determinants, processes, and outcomes. Special Issue: Family Firms and Family Governed Multinationals in the Global Economy, Global Strategy Journal, 8(1), 3-21.

Fernández, Z., & Nieto, M.J. (2005). Internationalization strategy of small and médium-sized family businesses: some influential factors. Family Business Review, 18 (1), 77-89.

Gomez-Mejia, L. R., Hynes, K. T., Nunez-Nickel, M., & Moyano-Fuentes, H. (2007). Socioemotional wealth and business risk in family-controlled firms: Evidence from Spanish olive oil mills. Administrative Science Quarterly, 52(1), 106–137.

Merino, F. (2017). Offshoring to promote the internationalization of family firms. Journal of Evolutionary Studies in Business, 2 (2), 44-69.

Ramírez, M. & Fernández-Olmos, M. (2019). Intermediate imports and innovation performance: do family firms benefit more? European Journal of Innovation Management, in press. 

Dr. Marta Fernández-Olmos
Dr. Ana Gargallo Castel
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • family firms
  • innovation performance

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1260 KiB  
Article
Size of Business Unit as a Factor Influencing Adoption of Digital Marketing: Empirical Analysis of SMEs Operating in the Central European Market
by František Pollák and Peter Markovič
Adm. Sci. 2021, 11(3), 71; https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci11030071 - 12 Jul 2021
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 5725
Abstract
The issue of using marketing communication tools in the internet environment is quite extensive. Innovation of the usual procedures is usually influenced by market development. The presented study examines selected factors that may affect the acceptance of digital marketing tools in business practice [...] Read more.
The issue of using marketing communication tools in the internet environment is quite extensive. Innovation of the usual procedures is usually influenced by market development. The presented study examines selected factors that may affect the acceptance of digital marketing tools in business practice in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The aim of the study is to answer the basic question of whether company size influences the willingness to adopt online marketing tools within the usual communication mix. Based on a thorough empirical analysis performed on a sample of companies operating in the Central European market, it can be stated that company size does not play a role in adopting online marketing tools. Most organizations, regardless of their size, still have reservations about investing in digital marketing. On the other hand, previous experience is a key determinant to perceive the benefits of using the internet for business purposes. Organizations actively using online marketing tools evaluate their contribution to their business very positively. It is a well-known fact that product testing significantly increases the degree of its acceptance. This knowledge is one of the key starting points in traditional marketing. Obviously, this assumption needs to be taken into account in both physical and digital environments. At the same time, it should be noted that the application of the basic online marketing tools in business practice is a prerequisite for all subsequent online activities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation Performance and Family Firms)
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19 pages, 668 KiB  
Article
Family Firms and Innovation from Founder to Successor
by Francesca Maria Cesaroni, Gail Denisse Chamochumbi Diaz and Annalisa Sentuti
Adm. Sci. 2021, 11(2), 54; https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci11020054 - 25 May 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4586
Abstract
Several empirical investigations indicate that family firms are more innovative under the founding generation’s leadership and become less innovative in later stages, while others state the opposite. Within this debate, limited attention has been devoted to understanding how intra-family succession might be an [...] Read more.
Several empirical investigations indicate that family firms are more innovative under the founding generation’s leadership and become less innovative in later stages, while others state the opposite. Within this debate, limited attention has been devoted to understanding how intra-family succession might be an opportunity to maintain or improve family firms’ innovativeness. This paper aims to explore how family firms’ innovativeness may evolve from the first to the second generation and understand which conditions may favour or hamper this change. A qualitative approach based on a multiple case study was adopted, conducting seven face-to-face semi-structured interviews with founders and successors that formed the basis of four case studies. The results reveal four different dynamics that characterise how a first-generation family firm’s innovation capacities are or are not passed on to the second generation: decline, transformation, consolidation and preservation. Findings also show that these dynamics depend on the founders and successors’ approaches towards innovation. To better depict differences between them, we propose a typology of founders (lone innovator, collaborative innovator and orchestrator innovator) and successors (prodigal son, game changer, talent scout, faithful disciple) and explain how they influence the evolution of innovation from the founder generation to the next. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation Performance and Family Firms)
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