IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v84y2018icp301-311.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Family ownership and family involvement as antecedents of strategic action: A longitudinal study of initial international entry

Author

Listed:
  • Evert, Robert E.
  • Sears, Joshua B.
  • Martin, John A.
  • Payne, G. Tyge

Abstract

This study integrates behavioral agency theory with the conditions of willingness and ability to investigate how family ownership and family involvement affect the likelihood of initial international entry, both directly and interactively. A firm's initial international entry—its first expansion into a foreign market—is considered a major, and often risky, strategic action that enables a firm to compete and grow. Among family firms, variance in initial international entry is theoretically explained by the family's willingness and ability to participate. Using survival analysis on data representing 190 different family firms across 10years, our findings support hypotheses suggesting that family ownership and involvement decrease the likelihood of initial international entry. However, these two forms of family control also act as interactive substitutes in relation to initial international entry likelihood. Our findings provide for a more nuanced understanding of family control heterogeneity in relationship to major strategic actions.

Suggested Citation

  • Evert, Robert E. & Sears, Joshua B. & Martin, John A. & Payne, G. Tyge, 2018. "Family ownership and family involvement as antecedents of strategic action: A longitudinal study of initial international entry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 301-311.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:84:y:2018:i:c:p:301-311
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.07.019
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296317302485
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.07.019?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. G. Tyge Payne & George S. Benson & David L. Finegold, 2009. "Corporate Board Attributes, Team Effectiveness and Financial Performance," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 704-731, June.
    2. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Separation of Ownership and Control," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 301-325, June.
    3. Villalonga, Belen & Amit, Raphael, 2006. "How do family ownership, control and management affect firm value?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 385-417, May.
    4. Farok J Contractor & Sumit K Kundu & Chin-Chun Hsu, 2003. "A three-stage theory of international expansion: the link between multinationality and performance in the service sector," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 34(1), pages 5-18, January.
    5. Magda Bianco & Maria Bontempi & Roberto Golinelli & Giuseppe Parigi, 2013. "Family firms’ investments, uncertainty and opacity," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 1035-1058, May.
    6. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. Choi, Young Rok & Zahra, Shaker A. & Yoshikawa, Toru & Han, Bong H., 2015. "Family ownership and R&D investment: The role of growth opportunities and business group membership," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(5), pages 1053-1061.
    8. Zahra, Shaker A., 2003. "International expansion of U.S. manufacturing family businesses: the effect of ownership and involvement," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 495-512, July.
    9. Mathias Arrfelt & Robert M. Wiseman & Gerry McNamara & G. Tomas M. Hult, 2015. "Examining a key corporate role: The influence of capital allocation competency on business unit performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(7), pages 1017-1034, July.
    10. Danny Miller & Isabelle Le Breton‐Miller & Richard H. Lester, 2011. "Family and Lone Founder Ownership and Strategic Behaviour: Social Context, Identity, and Institutional Logics," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 1-25, January.
    11. Tuppura, Anni & Saarenketo, Sami & Puumalainen, Kaisu & Jantunen, Ari & Kyläheiko, Kalevi, 2008. "Linking knowledge, entry timing and internationalization strategy," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 473-487, August.
    12. Alberto Abadie & David Drukker & Jane Leber Herr & Guido W. Imbens, 2004. "Implementing matching estimators for average treatment effects in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 4(3), pages 290-311, September.
    13. Terza, Joseph V. & Basu, Anirban & Rathouz, Paul J., 2008. "Two-stage residual inclusion estimation: Addressing endogeneity in health econometric modeling," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 531-543, May.
    14. D’Angelo, Alfredo & Majocchi, Antonio & Buck, Trevor, 2016. "External managers, family ownership and the scope of SME internationalization," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 534-547.
    15. repec:bla:jfinan:v:58:y:2003:i:3:p:1301-1327 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Yunshi Liu & Wen-Ting Lin & Kuei-Yang Cheng, 2011. "Family Ownership and the International Involvement of Taiwan's High-Technology Firms: The Moderating Effect of High-Discretion Organizational Slack," Management and Organization Review, The International Association for Chinese Management Research, vol. 7(2), pages 201-222, July.
    17. Vibha Gaba & Yigang Pan & Gerardo R Ungson, 2002. "Timing of Entry in International Market: An Empirical Study of U.S. Fortune 500 Firms in China," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 33(1), pages 39-55, March.
    18. Lin, Wen-Ting, 2012. "Family ownership and internationalization processes: Internationalization pace, internationalization scope, and internationalization rhythm," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 47-56.
    19. Thomas M. Zellweger & Franz W. Kellermanns & James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua, 2012. "Family Control and Family Firm Valuation by Family CEOs: The Importance of Intentions for Transgenerational Control," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(3), pages 851-868, June.
    20. Belén Villalonga & Raphael Amit, 2009. "How Are U.S. Family Firms Controlled?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(8), pages 3047-3091, August.
    21. Shumway, Tyler, 2001. "Forecasting Bankruptcy More Accurately: A Simple Hazard Model," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(1), pages 101-124, January.
    22. Luis R. Gomez‐Mejia & Marianna Makri & Martin Larraza Kintana, 2010. "Diversification Decisions in Family‐Controlled Firms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 223-252, March.
    23. Nicolaj Siggelkow, 2002. "Misperceiving Interactions Among Complements and Substitutes: Organizational Consequences," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(7), pages 900-916, July.
    24. Miller, Danny & Le Breton-Miller, Isabelle & Lester, Richard H. & Cannella Jr., Albert A., 2007. "Are family firms really superior performers?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 829-858, December.
    25. Salvatore Sciascia & Pietro Mazzola & Joseph Astrachan & Torsten Pieper, 2012. "The role of family ownership in international entrepreneurship: exploring nonlinear effects," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 15-31, January.
    26. Kent Eriksson & Jan Johanson & Anders Majkgård & D Deo Sharma, 1997. "Experimental Knowledge and Costs in the Internationalization Process," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 28(2), pages 337-360, June.
    27. Sanchez-Bueno, Maria J. & Usero, Belen, 2014. "How may the nature of family firms explain the decisions concerning international diversification?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(7), pages 1311-1320.
    28. Antonio Majocchi & Roger Strange, 2012. "International Diversification," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 52(6), pages 879-900, December.
    29. Kontinen, Tanja & Ojala, Arto, 2010. "The internationalization of family businesses: A review of extant research," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 1(2), pages 97-107, June.
    30. James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Alfredo Massis & Tommaso Minola & Silvio Vismara, 2016. "Management processes and strategy execution in family firms: from “what” to “how”," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 719-734, October.
    31. Liu, Yunshi & Lin, Wen-Ting & Cheng, Kuei-Yang, 2011. "Family Ownership and the International Involvement of Taiwan's High-Technology Firms: The Moderating Effect of High-Discretion Organizational Slack," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(2), pages 201-222, July.
    32. Chris Graves & Jill Thomas, 2004. "Internationalisation of the family business: a longitudinal perspective," International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 1(1), pages 7-27.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Williams, David W. & Crook, T. Russell, 2021. "Unpacking the age at initial internationalization-performance relationship: A meta-analytic investigation," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 15(C).
    2. Mikel Alayo & Txomin Iturralde & Amaia Maseda & Gloria Aparicio, 2021. "Mapping family firm internationalization research: bibliometric and literature review," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(6), pages 1517-1560, August.
    3. Laffranchini, Giacomo & Hadjimarcou, John & Kim, Si Hyun, 2022. "The first turnaround response of family firms in a crisis situation," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(1).
    4. Francisco Javier Forcadell & Fernando Úbeda, 2022. "Individual entrepreneurial orientation and performance: the mediating role of international entrepreneurship," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 875-900, June.
    5. Radácsi, László & Csákné Filep, Judit, 2021. "Családivállalkozás-kutatás longitudinális megközelítésben. Egy célzott szakirodalom-kutatás eredményei [Research into family businesses, based on a longitudinal approach. Results of a targeted over," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(S11), pages 108-125.
    6. Tan, Qingmei & Yan, Kexin & Zou, Gaofeng, 2024. "Family involvement in management, social trust and the environmental responsibility performance of family firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    7. Qiao Wei & Jin-hui Luo & Xueli Huang, 2020. "Influence of Social Identity on Family Firms’ FDI Decisions: The Moderating Role of Internal Capital Markets," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 60(5), pages 651-693, October.
    8. Pongelli, Claudia & Calabrò, Andrea & Basco, Rodrigo, 2019. "Family firms' international make-or-buy decisions: Captive offshoring, offshore outsourcing, and the role of home region focus," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 596-606.
    9. Chang, Erick P.C. & Zare, Sina & Ramadani, Veland, 2022. "How a larger family business is different from a non-family one?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 292-302.
    10. Patricio Duran & Marcelo Ortiz, 2020. "When More Is Better: Multifamily Firms and Firm Performance," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(4), pages 761-783, July.
    11. D’Angelo, Alfredo & Buck, Trevor, 2019. "The earliness of exporting and creeping sclerosis? The moderating effects of firm age, size and centralization," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 428-437.
    12. Nikola Rosecká & Ondřej Machek, 2023. "How Relational Conflict Harms Family Firm Performance: The Mediating Role of Family Social Capital and the Moderating Role of Family Ownership," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 854-869, December.
    13. Metsola, Jaakko & Leppäaho, Tanja & Paavilainen-Mäntymäki, Eriikka & Plakoyiannaki, Emmanuella, 2020. "Process in family business internationalisation: The state of the art and ways forward," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(2).
    14. Jara, Mauricio & López-Iturriaga, Félix J. & Torres, Juan Pablo, 2021. "Firm value and pyramidal structures: New evidence for family firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 399-412.
    15. Purkayastha, Saptarshi & Veliyath, Rajaram & George, Rejie, 2019. "The roles of family ownership and family management in the governance of agency conflicts," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 50-64.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cesinger, Beate & Hughes, Mathew & Mensching, Helge & Bouncken, Ricarda & Fredrich, Viktor & Kraus, Sascha, 2016. "A socioemotional wealth perspective on how collaboration intensity, trust, and international market knowledge affect family firms’ multinationality," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 586-599.
    2. Cornelius Hafner, 2021. "Diversification in family firms: a systematic review of product and international diversification strategies," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 529-572, April.
    3. Mikel Alayo & Txomin Iturralde & Amaia Maseda & Gloria Aparicio, 2021. "Mapping family firm internationalization research: bibliometric and literature review," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(6), pages 1517-1560, August.
    4. Patricio Duran & Nadine Kammerlander & Marc van Essen & Thomas Zellweger, 2016. "Doing More with Less : Innovation Input and Output in Family Firms," Post-Print hal-02276703, HAL.
    5. Xueru Yang & Jun Li & Laura J. Stanley & Franz W. Kellermanns & Xinchun Li, 2020. "How family firm characteristics affect internationalization of Chinese family SMEs," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 37(2), pages 417-448, June.
    6. Metsola, Jaakko & Leppäaho, Tanja & Paavilainen-Mäntymäki, Eriikka & Plakoyiannaki, Emmanuella, 2020. "Process in family business internationalisation: The state of the art and ways forward," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(2).
    7. Sanchez-Bueno, Maria J. & Usero, Belen, 2014. "How may the nature of family firms explain the decisions concerning international diversification?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(7), pages 1311-1320.
    8. Jean–Luc Arregle & Lucia Naldi & Mattias Nordqvist & Michael A. Hitt, 2012. "Internationalization of Family–Controlled Firms: A Study of the Effects of External Involvement in Governance," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(6), pages 1115-1143, November.
    9. Marco Galvagno & Vincenzo Pisano, 2021. "Building the genealogy of family business internationalization: a bibliometric mixed-method approach," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(1), pages 757-783, January.
    10. D’Angelo, Alfredo & Majocchi, Antonio & Buck, Trevor, 2016. "External managers, family ownership and the scope of SME internationalization," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 534-547.
    11. Casprini, Elena & Dabic, Marina & Kotlar, Josip & Pucci, Tommaso, 2020. "A bibliometric analysis of family firm internationalization research: Current themes, theoretical roots, and ways forward," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(5).
    12. Bauweraerts, Jonathan & Sciascia, Salvatore & Naldi, Lucia & Mazzola, Pietro, 2019. "Family CEO and board service: Turning the tide for export scope in family SMEs," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 1-1.
    13. Stephen J. Smulowitz & Didier Cossin & Alfredo De Massis & Hongze (Abraham) Lu, 2023. "Wrongdoing in Publicly Listed Family- and Nonfamily-Owned Firms: A Behavioral Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(4), pages 1233-1264, July.
    14. Carney, Michael & Duran, Patricio & van Essen, Marc & Shapiro, Daniel, 2017. "Family firms, internationalization, and national competitiveness: Does family firm prevalence matter?," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 123-136.
    15. Herrera-Echeverri, Hernán & Geleilate, Jose Galli & Gaitan-Riaño, Sandra & Haar, Jerry & Soto-Echeverry, Nidia, 2016. "Export behavior and board independence in Colombian family firms: The reverse causality relationship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(6), pages 2018-2029.
    16. Qiao Wei & Jin-hui Luo & Xueli Huang, 2020. "Influence of Social Identity on Family Firms’ FDI Decisions: The Moderating Role of Internal Capital Markets," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 60(5), pages 651-693, October.
    17. Luís Pacheco & Carla Lobo & Isabel Maldonado, 2022. "The Presence of Foreign Capital and the Internationalization of Portuguese Industrial SMEs," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-18, February.
    18. Debellis, Francesco & Rondi, Emanuela & Plakoyiannaki, Emmanuella & De Massis, Alfredo, 2021. "Riding the waves of family firm internationalization: A systematic literature review, integrative framework, and research agenda," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(1).
    19. Michael Carney & Marc Van Essen & Eric R. Gedajlovic & Pursey P.M.A.R. Heugens, 2015. "What do we know about Private Family Firms? A Meta–Analytical Review," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(3), pages 513-544, May.
    20. Rosalia Santulli & Mariateresa Torchia & Andrea Calabrò & Carmen Gallucci, 2019. "Family ownership concentration and firm internationalization: integrating principal-principal and socioemotional wealth perspectives," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 220-248, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:84:y:2018:i:c:p:301-311. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.