Kerim Karmeni, Lorraine Uhlaner and Lorenzo Lucianetti
As the transition between exploration and exploitation is a unique challenge for SMEs, what mechanism(s) might facilitate this transition? Building on the entrepreneurship…
Abstract
Purpose
As the transition between exploration and exploitation is a unique challenge for SMEs, what mechanism(s) might facilitate this transition? Building on the entrepreneurship literature's entrepreneurial opportunity identification and development framework, this study hypothesizes that the novelty-centered business model (NCBM) may serve as such a mechanism.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on cross-sectional survey data collected from 169 Italian SMEs in various sectors, this study tests the mediation, moderation and moderated mediation relationships using the statistical PROCESS procedure.
Findings
Supporting the hypotheses that exploration and exploitation are positively associated within SMEs, that NCBM mediates this relationship and that the indirect relationship between exploration and exploitation by way of NCBM is stronger for SMEs with employees of medium to high creative human capital, the results suggest that SMEs can more effectively exploit new ideas identified in the exploration phase by developing an NCBM and accessing their creative human capital.
Research limitations/implications
Although the robustness checks confirm the direction of the proposed hypotheses, given the cross-sectional nature of the dataset used, a longitudinal study would further validate the proposed framework.
Practical implications
SMEs can successfully achieve the transition between exploration and exploitation by reinventing their business model to compensate for their limited resources in terms of financial or relational capital. They can further enhance their ability to reinvent their business model and, in turn, to exploit innovations by hiring and retaining employees with greater creative human capital.
Originality/value
This study draws on the entrepreneurial opportunity, ambidexterity (exploration-exploitation) and business model literature to enhance our understanding of the role of the NCBM design concept (business model innovation) as a mechanism to achieve temporal ambidexterity in SMEs.
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Anneleen Michiels, Lorraine Uhlaner and Julie Dekker
The topic of dividend policies of private family-controlled firms has aroused the interest of corporate finance and governance scholars and practitioners alike. However, a lot of…
Abstract
Purpose
The topic of dividend policies of private family-controlled firms has aroused the interest of corporate finance and governance scholars and practitioners alike. However, a lot of questions concerning the dividends in privately held family firms remain unanswered. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether a private family firm’s dividend payout is influenced by its degree of professionalization.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypotheses are tested on a sample of 492 small to medium-sized Belgian family-controlled businesses with Tobit regression models.
Findings
The results show that professionalized family-controlled firms pay higher dividends to their shareholders than do less-professionalized firms. In particular, the use of financial control systems, non-family involvement in governance systems, and the use of human resource control systems have a positive significant impact on the average level of dividend payout.
Practical implications
This study may be of interest to family business consultants and (potential) investors, as the results contradict the assumption that family businesses (especially those privately held) will always have a no or low dividend policy.
Originality/value
Investigating dividend payout in the context of other components than family ownership (in this case, professionalization) can broaden our understanding of dividend payout.
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Marta M. Berent‐Braun and Lorraine M. Uhlaner
This study aims to examine the relationship of ownership behaviors with both firm financial performance and family assets in the context of family owned businesses.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the relationship of ownership behaviors with both firm financial performance and family assets in the context of family owned businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
The research framework allows for a comparison of predictions drawn from social psychological, economic, and management literature. The hypotheses are tested using ordinary least squares hierarchical regression analyses conducted on a nonrandom sample of medium and large family businesses.
Findings
The empirical results identify four potential categories of responsible ownership behaviors: professionalism, active governance, owner as resource, and basic duties. Professionalism (i.e. acting in accordance with expectations and agreements among owners and in relation to the firm) is the only behavior positively associated with financial performance. The effect of active governance (i.e. the monitoring of management) on financial performance is moderated by business size – this behavior has a negative effect on the dependent variable for all but the largest firms in the sample.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations of the current research and directions for further research include issues related to sampling, other possible variables to be explored, and alternative validations of the responsible ownership concept.
Practical implications
This study has direct practical implications for owners' actions in relation to one another and with other actors in the firm.
Originality/value
This study contributes to existing research on governance by developing a better understanding of the role of owners and their influence on the firm.
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Lorraine Uhlaner Hendrickson and Dale B. Tuttle
Defines environmental entrepreneurship as entrepreneurial activity that benefits the environment. Building on this definition, presents two related conceptual schema that may be…
Abstract
Defines environmental entrepreneurship as entrepreneurial activity that benefits the environment. Building on this definition, presents two related conceptual schema that may be used to study environmental enterprises. Presents an environmental classification scheme that can be used to categorize the mission or market strategy for different environmental enterprises. Applies the Dynamic System Planning Model, an open systems model of organization effectiveness, to explore the ways in which an environmental market strategy focus may impact other management issues. Presents qualitative data gathered from interviews and case materials from four small environmental enterprises. The environmental focus influenced the management approach to resource acquisition in three of the four companies. Environmental entrepreneurs also shared the common characteristic of taking a proactive stance relative to government sanctions and incentives boosting their respective industries. Points out a few practical implications and suggestions for future research based on the findings. One of these implications relates to the basic premiss of environmental entrepreneurship: Is it healthy for a business to focus the entire business on the environmental sector? Suggests not, recommending instead that a company may reduce its risk and thus potentially prolong its existence by diversifying into both environmental and non‐environmental industry segments, as long as both are linked to the company’s core competences. Urges further study of corporate strategic issues of this type. Recommends directions for future research.
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Lorraine M. Uhlaner, H.J.M. (Annemieke) van Goor‐Balk and Enno Masurel
This paper explores corporate social responsibility in family businesses. In particular, the research investigates family businesses in relation to a wide variety of constituent…
Abstract
This paper explores corporate social responsibility in family businesses. In particular, the research investigates family businesses in relation to a wide variety of constituent or stakeholder groups. It reports the preliminary results of focused interviews with 42 small and medium‐sized Dutch family businesses. The data obtained from content analysis suggest that a mix of corporate social responsibility perspectives, help to explain the nature of relationships with, and behaviors toward, various constituency groups. The family character of the business most frequently impacts employee, client, and supplier relationships. Statistically significant interaction effects are reported for the following moderator variables: generation of the owner; company tenure in the community; community size; company size; and inclusion of the family surname in the business name. Interaction effects were also tested for industry type and gender. The paper also outlines some practical implications of the findings and suggests directions for future research.
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Kathleen Randerson, Claire Seaman, Joshua J. Daspit and Céline Barredy
Donna Louise Gill, Sonia Jane Dickinson and Arno Scharl
The purpose of this research is to determine firms' sustainability efforts through triple bottom line reporting on the World Wide Web. Sustainability reporting can assist in brand…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to determine firms' sustainability efforts through triple bottom line reporting on the World Wide Web. Sustainability reporting can assist in brand differentiation to stakeholder groups and ultimately lead to a positive corporate reputation.
Design/methodology/approach
Automated web content analysis was used to determine and differentiate 39 oil and gas firms' reporting of economic, social and environmental disclosures across Europe, North America and Asia. Firms were benchmarked for their disclosures against key terms derived from the Global Reporting Initiative.
Findings
North American firms disclose the greatest amount of TBL information for both environmental and economic indicators. European firms are the most prevalent reporters of social indicators. Asian firms displayed the most positive bias to their sustainability reporting.
Research limitations/implications
Future research would benefit from linking firms' TBL reporting with firm performance as well as including a greater range of countries and industries for comparative purposes.
Practical implications
Firms should demonstrate a greater completeness of information across the three TBL indicators to effectively manage their relationships with their key stakeholders. Information should be unbiased and honest for firms to successfully legitimacy.
Originality/value
This paper uses automated content analyse to differentiate disclosure levels of TBL indicators across three different geographical regions.
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Maria Federica Izzo and Mirella Ciaburri
This paper aims to explore the role of socioemotional wealth (SEW) in family firms’ (FFs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement and practices. The authors draw on the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the role of socioemotional wealth (SEW) in family firms’ (FFs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement and practices. The authors draw on the notion of “Socioemotional endowment” (Gomez-Mejia et al., 2010), to interpret how the different dimensions of the FIBER model impact on the instrumental, moral or relational motives that push companies toward CSR.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors develop an integrated framework that analyzes motives of CSR practices (distinguishing between moral, instrumental and relational ones) and dimensions of FF’ SEW. The idea is that it is not possible to analyze the CSR attitude of FFs without distinguishing among the five dimensions of SEW (family control and influence; identification of family members with the firm; binding social ties; emotional attachment; and renewal of family bonds to the firm through dynastic succession).
Findings
The authors posit that FFs are particularly likely to engage in instrumental, moral or relational CSR practices depending on the FIBER dimension that they consider as primary reference point to achieve the goal of preserving SEW. In particular, out of the five FIBER dimensions, relational and instrumental motives appear to be more present in firms’ priority, when they deal with CSR activities.
Originality/value
Most of the literature on CSR and FFs concentrates on the differences between family and non-family firms (non-FFs) in approaching social responsible practices. Instead of debating whether FFs are more or less socially responsible than non-family organizations, the authors add to this literature by arguing that it is much more relevant to analyze which approach family firms (as an heterogeneous group) are more likely to adopt in relation to CSR. In so doing, they contribute to FFs studies on sustainability, by demonstrating that CSR engagement can be differently influenced and interpreted through the five dimensions of the FIBER model.
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Amanda Bullough, Fiona Moore and Tugba Kalafatoglu
The purpose of this paper is to address the paradox that represents a shortage of women in management and senior leadership positions around the world, while research has…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the paradox that represents a shortage of women in management and senior leadership positions around the world, while research has consistently shown that having women in positions of influence leads to noteworthy organizational benefits, as guest editors for this special issue, the authors provide an overview of four key streams of cross-cultural research on gender – women in international management, anthropology and gender, women’s leadership, and women’s entrepreneurship – which have been fairly well-developed but remain underexplored.
Design/methodology/approach
Each author led the review of the scholarly literature stream that aligned most with personal research areas of expertise, while particularly focusing each literature review on the status of each body of work in relation to the topic of women and gender in international business and management.
Findings
The authors encourage future work on the role of women and gender (including gay, lesbian, and transgender) in cross-cultural management, and the influence of cross-cultural matters on gender. In addition to new research on obstacles and biases faced by women in management, the authors hope to see more scholarship on the benefits that women bring to their organizations.
Practical implications
New research could aim to provide specific evidence-based recommendations for: how organizations and individuals can work to develop more gender diversity in management and senior positions around the world, and encourage more women to start and grow bigger businesses.
Social implications
Scholars can lead progress on important gender issues and contribute to quality information that guides politicians, organizational leaders, new entrants to the workforce.
Originality/value
This is the first paper to cover these topics and review the body of work on cross-cultural research on women in international business and management. The authors hope it serves as a useful launch pad for scholars conducting new research in this domain.