The Palgrave Handbook Of Family Firm Internationalization

Family Firms (FFs) form the majority of all firms around the world and they account for an enormous percentage of the employment, the revenue, and the GDP of most capitalist countries. While MNCs have long been thought of as the main contributors to international business, it is now recognised that a substantial number of family firms are active in the international arena. This handbook focuses on the features which make family firm internationalization unique. Chapters provide FF specific theories and cover the process of FF internationalization. It examines the role of network ties and provides an insight into the development of family firms that have grown into big multinationals. Importantly this Handbook equips you with a better understanding of specific features of family firms as they internationalize from or to Asian or emerging markets. Family firms offer a fruitful context to study internationalization through a process perspective, therefore this Handbook is an invaluable source of knowledge for students, scholars and policy makers in the areas of family business, entrepreneurship and internationalization.

This handbook is the definitive source of research on the differences among family firms. It provides a timely and thorough investigation of the variant strategies and behaviors undertaken by family firms today, taking a closer look at different configurations of family involvement and how they influence outcomes and success. While studies on differences between family and non-family firms are deeply rooted in the literature, this handbook uniquely examines the family firm heterogeneity research to date and the inner firm governance, financial and non-financial objectives, and strategies such as innovation, competitive dynamics, internationalization, and human resources management. The handbook pulls together the work of the most prominent names in family business from around the world, separating itself from the competition both in content and geographical scope. Future research directions provided in each chapter will spark further interdisciplinary scholarly work, and will be enlightening for researchers, educators, and practitioners who are currently limited to the narrow and exclusive literature and advance the burgeoning research on this important topic.

Family business groups (FBGs) are ubiquitous, influential, and play a major role in national economies. While much of the current research around this topic has so far focused on emerging economies, more knowledge is needed on family business groups in developed economies; specifically, how they innovate, strategize, govern, and grow. Offering a comprehensive and global perspective on family business groups, this Handbook comprises international contributions from leading experts. Split into five sections, it covers strategy and business transformation; innovation strategies; management and governance; and new avenues for research on FBGs including the issues of sustainability and cultural alignment. An important resource for students and researchers of family business, strategy and management, this Handbook signals the emergence of the family business group phenomenon and solidifies research in this evolving area of study.

The management field increasingly recognizes that most firms in the world are family firms and that these entities operate differently from the non-family firms on which most of our current management theories are based. The De Gruyter Handbook of Business Families brings together work from leading academics who explore emerging research themes relevant to business families, particularly drawing in new insights from adjacent disciplines that can advance the family business field. The handbook challenges the traditional notion of the "single firm–single family" that has characterized most early research on family business. Recognizing that families may simultaneously own or control multiple businesses as well as substantial wealth beyond these firms in the form of financial and non-financial assets, this handbook focuses on business families rather than the narrower construct of family business. The contributions in this handbook explore the relatively neglected dynamics between individuals with family ties that shape the interaction between family and business; business families with multiple businesses; how business families adopt formal rules and processes around their joint activities; and the institutionalization of wealth and business families in society. The De Gruyter Handbook of Business Families fills a gap in the family business research literature and is an essential reference work for researchers and graduate-level students in the area of business families.

This book offers an integrated discussion on international entry mode decisions in the context of family firms. It provides scholars and students a state-of-the art of extant knowledge on family firms' entry modes into foreign contexts by outlining main research trajectories and empirical findings of prior studies. To this end, differences between family and non-family firms as well as sources of heterogeneity across different family firms are pointed out for the main types of entry modes. Moreover, this book offers new insights on the choice between either creating a joint venture or a wholly-owned subsidiary in a foreign country as it theoretically and empirically shows how economic and noneconomic drivers shape family leaders' international strategic preferences. Offering a thoughtful review of extant studies and a comprehensive reasoning on the phenomenon of family firm internationalization, this is an insightful read for scholars and students interested in family firms and international business. Claudia Pongelli holds a Ph.D. in Management from LUISS University (Rome, Italy) where she has also been a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Business and Management. Since 2018, she has been Affiliate Research Fellow at IPAG Entrepreneurship & Family Business Center (Nice, France) and is currently a Research Fellow at the Department of Management and Law, University of Rome Tor Vergata (Rome, Italy). She also teaches International Business as an Adjunct Professor, both at LUISS University and Università San Raffaele Roma.

This book provides an extensive overview of family business-related topics such as context and uniqueness, lifecycle and ownership configurations, conflict management, corporate governance, succession challenges, internationalization, innovation, and socioemotional wealth. Each chapter features clear learning objectives, key concepts and terminology, and dedicated case studies to demonstrate the main messages. The book not only considers the day-to-day dynamics in family businesses, but also places substantial emphasis on the entrepreneurial skills needed for these businesses to survive and thrive, today and tomorrow. In addition, it elaborates and discusses a number of best practice examples, which offer valuable guidance not only for scholars, but also for students who wish to study these challenges.