IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/jintbs/v50y2019i5d10.1057_s41267-019-00213-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A missing link in family firms’ internationalization research: Family structures

Author

Listed:
  • Jean-Luc Arregle

    (EM Lyon Business School)

  • Michael A. Hitt

    (Texas A&M University
    Texas Christian University)

  • Isabelle Mari

    (EDHEC Business School)

Abstract

Hennart, Majocchi, and Forlani propose and validate a new explanation of family firms’ internationalization heterogeneity shedding light on the role of a family firm’s global niche business model. This type of family firm can avoid the dominant internationalization problems usually depicted in the literature on family firms’ internationalization. Starting from the same diagnosis on extant research, we explore another perspective to explain this heterogeneity: the structure of the family institution. We examine the relationships of family structures, developed by Emmanuel Todd in social anthropology, to family firms’ internationalization. We explain how Todd’s typology of family structures can influence the new mechanisms proposed by Hennart and colleagues for family firms in Europe with a global niche business internationalization. Finally, using these family structures, we also reexamine two analyses on family firms’ internationalization. Therefore, we introduce a new perspective for research on family firms’ internationalization that is based on context and has critical importance for understanding family firms’ strategies. This new perspective has significance for international business research on family firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean-Luc Arregle & Michael A. Hitt & Isabelle Mari, 2019. "A missing link in family firms’ internationalization research: Family structures," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(5), pages 809-825, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jintbs:v:50:y:2019:i:5:d:10.1057_s41267-019-00213-z
    DOI: 10.1057/s41267-019-00213-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41267-019-00213-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41267-019-00213-z?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. Rosalie L Tung & Alain Verbeke, 2010. "Beyond Hofstede and GLOBE: Improving the quality of cross-cultural research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(8), pages 1259-1274, October.
    2. Aldrich, Howard E. & Cliff, Jennifer E., 2003. "The pervasive effects of family on entrepreneurship: toward a family embeddedness perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 573-596, September.
    3. Gilles Duranton & Andres Rodríguez-Pose & Richard Sandall, 2009. "Family Types and the Persistence of Regional Disparities in Europe," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 85(1), pages 23-47, January.
    4. Alan M. Rugman & Alain Verbeke, 2005. "Subsidiary Specific Advantages in Multinational Enterprises," Chapters, in: Analysis of Multinational Strategic Management, chapter 6, pages 77-90, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Roland Calori & Michael Lubatkin & Philippe Very & John F. Veiga, 1997. "Modelling the Origins of Nationally-Bound Administrative Heritages: A Historical Institutional Analysis of French and British Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(6), pages 681-696, December.
    6. Nicholas Bloom & John Van Reenen, 2007. "Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(4), pages 1351-1408.
    7. Oded Shenkar, 2012. "Beyond cultural distance: Switching to a friction lens in the study of cultural differences," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 43(1), pages 12-17, January.
    8. Alberto Alesina & Paola Giuliano, 2010. "The power of the family," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 93-125, June.
    9. Oded Shenkar, 2001. "Cultural Distance Revisited: Towards a More Rigorous Conceptualization and Measurement of Cultural Differences," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(3), pages 519-535, September.
    10. Alan M. Rugman & Alain Verbeke, 2005. "A Perspective on Regional and Global Strategies of Multinational Enterprises," Chapters, in: Analysis of Multinational Strategic Management, chapter 8, pages 104-119, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Pankaj Ghemawat, 2003. "Semiglobalization and international business strategy," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 34(2), pages 138-152, March.
    12. Avner Greif, 2006. "Family Structure, Institutions, and Growth: The Origins and Implications of Western Corporations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 308-312, May.
    13. Ratan J S Dheer & Tomasz Lenartowicz & Mark F Peterson, 2015. "Mapping India’s regional subcultures: Implications for international management," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 46(4), pages 443-467, May.
    14. Jan Johanson & Jan-Erik Vahlne, 2009. "The Uppsala internationalization process model revisited: From liability of foreignness to liability of outsidership," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(9), pages 1411-1431, December.
    15. Nicholas Bloom & John Van Reenen, 2010. "Why Do Management Practices Differ across Firms and Countries?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(1), pages 203-224, Winter.
    16. Peter J. Buckley & Mark Casson, 1991. "The Future of the Multinational Enterprise," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, edition 0, number 978-1-349-21204-0, December.
    17. Rosalie L Tung, 2008. "The cross-cultural research imperative: the need to balance cross-national and intra-national diversity," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 39(1), pages 41-46, January.
    18. Alberto Alesina & Paola Giuliano, 2015. "Culture and Institutions," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 53(4), pages 898-944, December.
    19. Tomasz Lenartowicz & Kendall Roth, 2001. "Does Subculture Within a Country Matter? A Cross-Cultural Study of Motivational Domains and Business Performance in Brazil," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(2), pages 305-325, June.
    20. Jean-Francois Hennart, 1993. "Explaining the Swollen Middle: Why Most Transactions Are a Mix of “Market” and “Hierarchy”," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 4(4), pages 529-547, November.
    21. Marianne Bertrand & Antoinette Schoar, 2006. "The Role of Family in Family Firms," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(2), pages 73-96, Spring.
    22. Jean‐Luc Arregle & Michael A. Hitt & David G. Sirmon & Philippe Very, 2007. "The Development of Organizational Social Capital: Attributes of Family Firms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 73-95, January.
    23. Jean-Luc Arrègle & Patricio Duran & Michael A. Hitt & Marc van Essen, 2017. "Why Is Family Firms' Internationalization Unique? A Meta-Analysis," Post-Print hal-02311886, HAL.
    24. Pramodita Sharma & S. Manikutty, 2005. "Strategic Divestments in Family Firms: Role of Family Structure and Community Culture," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(3), pages 293-311, May.
    25. Lenartowicz, Tomasz & Johnson, James P. & White, Carolyn T., 2003. "The neglect of intracountry cultural variation in international management research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 56(12), pages 999-1008, December.
    26. Patricio Duran & Nadine Kammerlander & Marc van Essen & Thomas Zellweger, 2016. "Doing More with Less : Innovation Input and Output in Family Firms," Post-Print hal-02312103, HAL.
    27. Jan Johanson & Jan-Erik Vahlne, 1977. "The Internationalization Process of the Firm—A Model of Knowledge Development and Increasing Foreign Market Commitments," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 8(1), pages 23-32, March.
    28. Elitsa R Banalieva & Kimberly A Eddleston, 2011. "Home-region focus and performance of family firms: The role of family vs non-family leaders," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 42(8), pages 1060-1072, October.
    29. Jean-Luc Arrègle & Michael Hitt & David Sirmon & Philippe Véry, 2007. "The Development of Organizational Social Capital : Attributes of Family Firms," Post-Print hal-02312687, HAL.
    30. 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.
    31. Alain Verbeke & Liena Kano, 2012. "The Transaction Cost Economics Theory of the Family Firm: Family–Based Human Asset Specificity and the Bifurcation Bias," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(6), pages 1183-1205, November.
    32. Peter J Buckley & Mark C Casson, 2009. "The internalisation theory of the multinational enterprise: A review of the progress of a research agenda after 30 years," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(9), pages 1563-1580, December.
    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. Kai Xu & Michael A. Hitt & Stewart R. Miller, 2020. "The ownership structure contingency in the sequential international entry mode decision process: Family owners and institutional investors in family-dominant versus family-influenced firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(2), pages 151-171, March.
    2. Cirillo, Alessandro & Maggi, Barbara & Sciascia, Salvatore & Lazzarotti, Valentina & Visconti, Federico, 2022. "Exploring family millennials’ involvement in family business internationalization: Who should be their leader?," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(3).
    3. Niina Nummela & Tiia Vissak & Barbara Francioni, 2022. "The interplay of entrepreneurial and non-entrepreneurial internationalization: an illustrative case of an Italian SME," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 295-325, March.
    4. Sinkovics, Noemi & Reuber, A. Rebecca, 2021. "Beyond disciplinary silos: A systematic analysis of the migrant entrepreneurship literature," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(4).
    5. Evers, Natasha & Ojala, Arto & Sousa, Carlos M.P. & Criado-Rialp, Alex, 2023. "Unraveling business model innovation in firm internationalization: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    6. 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.
    7. Guedes, Maria João & Patel, Pankaj C. & Kowalkowski, Christian & Oghazi, Pejvak, 2022. "Family business, servitization, and performance: Evidence from Portugal," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    8. Jean-Luc Arregle & Francesco Chirico & Liena Kano & Sumit K. Kundu & Antonio Majocchi & William S. Schulze, 2021. "Family firm internationalization: Past research and an agenda for the future," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(6), pages 1159-1198, August.
    9. Hearn, Bruce & Oxelheim, Lars & Randøy, Trond, 2021. "The Impact of Founders on Information Asymmetry vis-à-vis Outside Investors: Evidence from Caribbean Offshore Tax Havens," Working Paper Series 1419, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    10. Zulfiquer Ali Haider & Jialong Li & Yefeng Wang & Zhenyu Wu, 2021. "Do Family Firms Have Higher or Lower Deal Valuations? A Contextual Analysis," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(4), pages 709-739, July.
    11. Liu, Zixu & Zhou, Jianghua & Li, Jizhen, 2023. "How do family firms respond strategically to the digital transformation trend: Disclosing symbolic cues or making substantive changes?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PA).
    12. Federica Nieri & Luciano Ciravegna, 2019. "Investigating firms' involvement in corporate social irresponsibility: Are family owned MNEs better corporate citizens?," Discussion Papers 2019/254, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    13. González, Carlos & González-Galindo, Ana, 2022. "The institutional context as a source of heterogeneity in family firm internationalization strategies: A comparison between U.S. and emerging market family firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(4).
    14. Liena Kano & Luciano Ciravegna & Francesco Rattalino, 2021. "The family as a platform for FSA development: Enriching new internalization theory with insights from family firm research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(1), pages 148-160, February.
    15. He, Xuan & Xiao, Weicheng, 2022. "What drives family SMEs to internationalize? An integrated perspective of community institutions and knowledge resources," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

    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. Jean-Luc Arregle & Francesco Chirico & Liena Kano & Sumit K. Kundu & Antonio Majocchi & William S. Schulze, 2021. "Family firm internationalization: Past research and an agenda for the future," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(6), pages 1159-1198, August.
    2. Kimberly A. Eddleston & Peter Jaskiewicz & Mike Wright, 2020. "Family firms and internationalization in the Asia-Pacific: the need for multi-level perspectives," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 37(2), pages 345-361, June.
    3. de Jong, Gjalt & van Houten, Jerry, 2014. "The impact of MNE cultural diversity on the internationalization-performance relationship," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 313-326.
    4. 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).
    5. Sjoerd Beugelsdijk & Tatiana Kostova & Vincent E. Kunst & Ettore Spadafora & Marc van Essen, 2018. "Cultural Distance and Firm Internationalization," Post-Print hal-02312065, HAL.
    6. Oded Shenkar & Stephen B Tallman & Hao Wang & Jie Wu, 2022. "National culture and international business: A path forward," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(3), pages 516-533, April.
    7. Liena Kano & Luciano Ciravegna & Francesco Rattalino, 2021. "The family as a platform for FSA development: Enriching new internalization theory with insights from family firm research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(1), pages 148-160, February.
    8. Ilgaz Arikan & Oded Shenkar, 2022. "Neglected elements: What we should cover more of in international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(7), pages 1484-1507, September.
    9. Danchi Tan & Weichieh Su & Joseph T. Mahoney & Yasemin Kor, 2020. "A review of research on the growth of multinational enterprises: A Penrosean lens," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(4), pages 498-537, June.
    10. Hsi-Mei Chung & Sven Dahms & Pao T. Kao, 2021. "Emerging Market Multinational Family Business Groups and the Use of Family Managers in Foreign Subsidiaries," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 57-89, March.
    11. 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.
    12. Alan M. Rugman & Alain Verbeke & Quyen T. K. Nguyen, 2011. "Fifty Years of International Business Theory and Beyond," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 51(6), pages 755-786, December.
    13. 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.
    14. Sjoerd Beugelsdijk & Björn Ambos & Phillip C Nell, 2018. "Conceptualizing and measuring distance in international business research: Recurring questions and best practice guidelines," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(9), pages 1113-1137, December.
    15. Alain Verbeke & Wenlong Yuan & Liena Kano, 2020. "A values-based analysis of bifurcation bias and its impact on family firm internationalization," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 37(2), pages 449-477, June.
    16. Maria Cristina Sestu & Antonio Majocchi, 2020. "Family Firms and the Choice Between Wholly Owned Subsidiaries and Joint Ventures: A Transaction Costs Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(2), pages 211-232, March.
    17. Kai Xu & Michael A. Hitt & Stewart R. Miller, 2020. "The ownership structure contingency in the sequential international entry mode decision process: Family owners and institutional investors in family-dominant versus family-influenced firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(2), pages 151-171, March.
    18. Popli, Manish & Akbar, Mohammad & Kumar, Vikas & Gaur, Ajai, 2016. "Reconceptualizing cultural distance: The role of cultural experience reserve in cross-border acquisitions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 404-412.
    19. Wen-Ting Lin & Linda C. Wang, 2021. "Family firms, R&D, and internationalization: the stewardship and socio-emotional wealth perspectives," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 91-119, March.
    20. 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.

    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:pal:jintbs:v:50:y:2019:i:5:d:10.1057_s41267-019-00213-z. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    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.