Absorptive capacity in family firms: exploring the role of the CEO
International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research
ISSN: 1355-2554
Article publication date: 27 February 2024
Issue publication date: 17 May 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Absorptive capacity (AC), the ability to leverage external knowledge for innovation, helps explain the mixed findings on family firms' (FFs) innovation performance. Our research focuses on the chief executive officer (CEO)’s role – whether family or non-family and founding or later generation – in influencing AC. We also explore how firm size and environmental dynamism affect these relationships, offering insights into varying AC levels among FFs.
Design/methodology/approach
Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models were estimated to test the hypotheses using a sample of 364 FFs in Spain.
Findings
FFs’ AC is greater when the CEO is a family member, and even more so when the family CEO belongs to the founding family generation. While AC diminishes in larger FFs, this effect is mitigated when the CEO is a family member. The predicted moderating effect of environmental dynamics is not supported by the analyses.
Originality/value
This paper adds insights about the drivers of heterogeneity in innovation among FFs, addressing recent calls for more nuanced views of how family members drive the strategic behavior of the business and incorporating considerations of different types of FFs based on the identity of the firm CEO. The results overall support the theoretical claims and also open up important questions for future studies.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author gratefully acknowledges the funding received through the TED2021-132446B-I00 (MICIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) research project and the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR and the PID2020-115018RB-C31 (AEI/FEDER, UE) research project financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the European Regional Development Funds.
Citation
Garcés-Galdeano, L., Kotlar, J., Caicedo-Leitón, A.L., Larraza-Kintana, M. and Frattini, F. (2024), "Absorptive capacity in family firms: exploring the role of the CEO", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 30 No. 6, pp. 1349-1371. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-02-2023-0123
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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