The Internationalisation of Family Firms: the Role of the Ownership Structure and the Composition of Top Management Team

The Internationalisation of Family Firms: the Role of the Ownership Structure and the Composition of Top Management Team

Wąsowska, Aleksandra;
entrepreneurial business and economics review 2017 Vol. 5 pp. 169-185
379
wasowska2017theentrepreneurial

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this paper is to investigate the determinants of family firm internationalisation, focusing on the roles of ownership (i.e. concentration of ownership, foreign ownership) and management (i.e. involvement of nonfamily managers, owner-CEO). Research Design & Methods: We test our hypothesis using linear regression models and logistic regression models, based on a sample of 6,957 family firms from seven European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, UK). Findings: The concentration of ownership within the family hinders the propensity to export, but it has no effect on export intensity and export scope. Foreign ownership contributes to firm performance and that the impact of minority foreign ownership is more pronounced than the controlling foreign ownership. The involvement of nonfamily managers enhances internationalisation, and that owner-CEO hinders internationalisation, but only in terms of global exporting. Implications & Recommendations: The inclusion of outsiders (both in terms of ownership and management) enhances family firms’ internationalisation. This finding is particularly relevant to family business planning to expand abroad. We encourage further research investigating the relationships between different dimensions of ‘familiness’ and firm internationalisation, preferably in a multi-country context (e.g. advanced versus emerging economies). Contribution & Value Added: The originality of this work lies in treating family firms as a heterogeneous group and investigating the impact of different dimensions of ’familiness’ (i.e. ownership structure, composition of TMTs) upon an internationalisation strategy.

Citation

ID: 20028
Ref Key: wasowska2017theentrepreneurial
Use this key to autocite in SciMatic or Thesis Manager

References

Blockchain Verification

Account:
NFT Contract Address:
0x95644003c57E6F55A65596E3D9Eac6813e3566dA
Article ID:
20028
Unique Identifier:
Network:
Scimatic Chain (ID: 481)
Loading...
Blockchain Readiness Checklist
Authors
Abstract
Journal Name
Year
Title
5/5
Creates 1,000,000 NFT tokens for this article
Token Features:
  • ERC-1155 Standard NFT
  • 1 Million Supply per Article
  • Transferable via MetaMask
  • Permanent Blockchain Record
Blockchain QR Code
Scan with Saymatik Web3.0 Wallet

Saymatik Web3.0 Wallet