European Journal of Family Business最新文献

This paper analyzes the effect of conditional mediation of environment-competitive strategy in business orientation of family businesses. In order to study the results we propose a method based on a second generation structural equation (PLS-SEM) where software SmartPLS 3.2.6 is applied to measure data of 174 Spanish family businesses. This paper presents a relevant contribution both to the academic field and the performance of family firms, helping to understand the process of transforming international entrepreneurial orientation into a better international performance through competitive strategy while family businesses invest their efforts in aligning international entrepreneurial orientation and competitive strategy with international results, bearing in mind the positive moderator effect of environment.

The literature has usually omitted family factors from the development of strategic models of family firms. These businesses have instead been analysed using traditional models and this has led to divergent results about their performance. This paper considers the overlap of family, business, and individuals in producing the concept of familiness – whose composition is approached from the perspective of social capital and open systems. This approach bridges the research gap regarding the composition of familiness (which has been traditionally measured as an indicator of the implication of the family in the business) and the component and essence approaches to family business are compared.

After the last global crisis, firms needed to change and adapt better to the environment. In this scenario, knowledge management is the most important strategic resource, and therefore, it is considered critical for improving firm performance.

However, knowledge management processes and the dynamic environment demand new ways of personnel management, especially a break from traditional and rigid forms of working. As a result of these experiments several innovations in work systems, managerial practices, and personnel policies have appeared. This study examines the holistic relationship between knowledge management, flexibility and firm performance in family firms.

The results show that knowledge management has a positive influence on firm performance. Also, flexibility is not significantly related to firm performance. However, flexibility is positive and significantly related to knowledge management. Furthermore, there is no linear relationship between family involvement in ownership and management, and flexibility and knowledge management in the firm.

Accounting information is used to evaluate the firm's financial performance. Although, firms may have incentives to engage in earnings management, misleading all stakeholders. This study aims to analyse earnings management behaviours of Portuguese listed firms. Both accrual-based and real activities of earnings management are analysed to draw an overall picture of earnings management’ strategies. Most studies focused only in discretionary accruals as a proxy for earnings management, since cash flow-based earnings management is more difficult to detect. Although both strategies can be complementary instead of substituting. Moreover, the impact of financial crisis, family control, and firm characteristics is taken into account. Previous literature found that 2008 crisis had impact on earnings management as firms want to meet debt covenants and investors’ expectations. Moreover, family firms also impact the magnitude of earnings management. While some researchers found a negative relationship since managers are highly controlled, others found the opposite relationship because the family may want to maximize their own wealth. Analysing 51 listed firms, from 2003 till 2015, results show that firms engage more in earnings management during crisis, when the firm's financial situation is less stable. In addition, accrual-based earnings management is higher in family firms than in non-family ones, suggesting less quality of information in the first group. Due to less control of family firms, the family may expropriate minority investors’ wealth to increase personal benefits. Finally, the impact of firms’ characteristics on earnings management depends on the proxy of earning management analysed, suggesting that firms use accrual or real-activities earnings management depending on its purposes.

In Latin America, company ownership is typically concentrated in the hands of controlling families, who build powerful business groups which facilitate interlocking practices. The purpose of this study is to examine how President interlocking relates with financial performance in Latin American firms, under uncertainty circumstances. Using regression analysis (panel least squares), the association between return on assets and President interlocking during turbulent times is analyzed. For the latter, annual data (2009–2010) from non-financial publicly traded companies in Chile (243 firms) and Mexico (89 firms) is employed. It is documented that President interlocking in Latin American firms is positively associated with financial performance. However, this effect is higher in Chile than in Mexico, where minority shareholders and other stakeholders are better protected against expropriation. This study increases the understanding of the strengths of President interlocks in stormy times, by introducing the Latin American context.