How Do Family Firms Launch New Businesses? A Developmental Perspective on Internal Corporate Venturing in Family Business

Abstract

This conceptual work depicts internal corporate venturing in family business as consisting of two separate and sequential strategic choices: first, the decision about the degree of relatedness between the parent firm and the venture; second, the definition of the level of venture autonomy. Drawing on stewardship theory, we argue that family business dynamics, and in particular the development of the ownership structure, influence how family firms pursue internal corporate venturing and make decisions related to such two steps. We also discuss the contingent effect of corporate governance characteristics and of the national legal system.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mara Brumana

Mara Brumana is research fellow at the Department of Management, Information and Production Engineering and Center for Young & Family Enterprise (CYFE), University of Bergamo.

Tommaso Minola

Tommaso Minola assistant professor at the Department of Management, Information and Production Engineering and Director at the Center for Young & Family Enterprise (CYFE), University of Bergamo.

Robert P. Garrett

Robert P. Garrett associate professor at the Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship, University of Louisville.

Shaun P. Digan

Shaun P. Digan PhD candidate in the Department of Entrepreneurship, University of Louisville.