Familiness and innovation outcomes in family firms: The mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation

ABSTRACT

Despite having characteristics conducive to innovation, family firms are often thought to be less innovative than their nonfamily counterparts. A potential contributor to this innovation paradox is familiness, or the bundle of resources that derive from involvement of the family in the business. We explore this relationship by investigating the mediating role played by the firm’s entrepreneurial orientation (EO). Using a global sample of family firms, we find support for the mediated model, with the underlying dimensions of familiness differing in their influence on EO, which in turn affects a number of innovation outcomes. The findings are used to clarify the innovation paradox.

KEYWORDS:

• Family business
• familiness
• entrepreneurial orientation
• innovation outcomes

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00472778.2020.1861284.