Knowledge that Transforms

Much scholarly attention has been paid to the internationalization of family firms. In this paper, I contend that our knowledge remains limited because of a dominant focus on decision making. I problematize this dominant focus in the literature, propose assemblage theory as a new lens through which to examine family business internationalization, and draw attention to new research questions constructed around the conceptualization of internationalization as a destabilizing influence on family firm logics and routines. In doing so, I pay particular attention to processes associated with internationalization triggers, geographic distance, cultural differences and the family firm as an unfamiliar market actor, and to temporal considerations associated with these processes.

This article theorizes and evaluates the relationship between inflexible organizational practices, family factors, and gendered pathways into entrepreneurship. Using novel survey data collected by the Harris Poll, I evaluate how a decision to pass up a job that lacks flexibility is associated with self–employment, and examine how this relationship varies by gender, family status, and educational attainment. Findings suggest that passing up a job is associated with women's, but not men's, self–employment. Moreover, motherhood and a spouse's employment status predict women's self–employment, but only if they have sacrificed a job opportunity.

Corporate venture capital (CVC) is a valuable strategic tool associated with numerous innovative outcomes. However, less is known about whether CVC investing creates value for the investing (or parent) firm. Drawing from the attention–based view and contingency theory, we suggest that an increase in firm value from CVC investing is contingent on attentional mechanisms that discipline the selection of new investment opportunities. We posit that increases in firm value associated with CVC investing accrues to firms adopting specific operational structures and operating in particular environmental contexts. We find support for our research model in a sample of 95 companies between 2000 and 2008.

Many family business owners want their offspring to continue the family business after they have retired. However, they may lack “willing successors.” Drawing on resource–based logic, this paper proposes parental business strategies which enhance the attractiveness of continuation by offspring. These strategies include investment in intangible capital, which is less valuable if offspring sell the firm, and high levels of parental effort. As a by–product, these strategies enhance the financial performance and longevity of those family firms which adopt them, and might help explain the global prevalence of family firms as an organizational form.

We examine the unique nature of conflict between controlling family owners and minority shareholders (principal–principal conflict) in publicly traded family controlled firms through examining shareholder proposals. Implicit in prior governance and family business research has been that nonfamily shareholders are likely to be in conflict with the dominant family owners. In general, we find that much of this fear may be unwarranted except under specific circumstances. Our findings elucidate sources of heterogeneity in family firm principal–principal conflict and add greater nuance to our understanding of this type of agency problem within family firms.

Kiss, A. N., Fernhaber, S., & McDougall–Covin, P. P. (2018). Slack, Innovation, and Export Intensity: Implications for Small– and Medium–Sized Enterprises. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. Jiang, H., Cannella, A. A., & Jiao, J. (2018). Does Desperation Breed Deceiver? A Behavioral Model of New Venture Opportunism. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. Hechavarría, D. M., Terjesen, S. A., Stenholm, P., Brännback, M., & Lång, S. (2018). More than Words: Do Gendered Linguistic Structures Widen the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurial Activity? Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. Verver, M., & Koning, J. (2018). Toward a Kinship Perspective on Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. Fang He, V., Sirén, C., Singh, S., Solomon, G., & von Krogh, G. (2018). Keep Calm and Carry On: Emotion Regulation in Entrepreneurs’ Learning from Failure. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. Smolka, K. M., Verheul, I., Burmeister–Lamp, K., & Heugens, P. P. M. A. R. (2018). Get it Together! Synergistic Effects of Causal and Effectual Decision–Making Logics on Venture Performance. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. Covin, J. G., Garrett, R. P., Gupta, J. P., Kuratko, D. F., & Shepherd, D. A. (2018). The Interdependence of Planning and Learning among Internal Corporate Ventures. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. Schwens, C., Zapkau, F. B., Bierwerth, M., Isidor, R., Knight, G., & Kabst, R. (2018). International Entrepreneurship: A Meta–Analysis on the Internationalization and Performance Relationship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. Li, C., Isidor, R., Dau, L. A., & Kabst, R. (2018). The More the Merrier? Immigrant Share and Entrepreneurial Activities. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. Articles Withdrawn by Publisher SAGE Publishing regrets that these articles, due to an administrative error, were accidentally published OnlineFirst and in Volume 42 Issue 4 or in Volume 42 Issue 5 with different DOIs. The correct and citable versions of the articles remain Kiss, A. N., Fernhaber, S., & McDougall–Covin, P. P. (2018). Slack, Innovation, and Export Intensity: Implications for Small– and Medium–Sized Enterprises. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 42(5), 671–697. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258718795318 Jiang, H., Cannella, A. A., & Jiao, J. (2018). Does Desperation Breed Deceiver? A Behavioral Model of New Venture Opportunism. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 42(5), 769–796. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258718795347 Hechavarría, D. M., Terjesen, S. A., Stenholm, P., Brännback, M., & Lång, S. (2018). More than Words: Do Gendered Linguistic Structures Widen the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurial Activity? Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 42(5), 797–817. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258718795350 Verver, M., & Koning, J. (2018). Toward a Kinship Perspective on Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 42(4), 631–666. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258718783431 Fang He, V., Sirén, C., Singh, S., Solomon, G., & von Krogh, G. (2018). Keep Calm and Carry On: Emotion Regulation in Entrepreneurs’ Learning from Failure. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 42(4), 605–630. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258718783428 Smolka, K. M., Verheul, I., Burmeister–Lamp, K., & Heugens, P. P. M. A. R. (2018). Get it Together! Synergistic Effects of Causal and Effectual Decision–Making Logics on Venture Performance. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 42(4), 571–604. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258718783429 Covin, J. G., Garrett, R. P., Gupta, J. P., Kuratko, D. F., & Shepherd, D. A. (2018). The Interdependence of Planning and Learning among Internal Corporate Ventures. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 42(4), 537–570. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258718783430 Schwens, C., Zapkau, F. B., Bierwerth, M., Isidor, R., Knight, G., & Kabst, R. (2018). International Entrepreneurship: A Meta–Analysis on the Internationalization and Performance Relationship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 42(5), 734–768. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258718795346 Li, C., Isidor, R., Dau, L. A., & Kabst, R. (2018). The More the Merrier? Immigrant Share and Entrepreneurial Activities. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 42(5), 698–733. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258718795344

Scholars of entrepreneurship have focused mostly on founder entrepreneurs, new ventures, venture capital, and entrepreneurial initiatives in larger firms. However, family firms, which account for a majority of new ventures, have received far less prominent attention from the field. Although family businesses, often rightly, have been portrayed as being conservative and even stodgy, many of them are successful and enduring, and enjoy advantages in the business founding, growth, and maturity phases of the life cycle. We discuss the resources that may be responsible for these advantages in successful family firms, and the lessons that may be drawn from such firms for quintessential topics in entrepreneurship such as effectuation, new ventures, venture capital, opportunity platforms, and entrepreneurial orientation.

Most entrepreneurial orientation (EO)–performance research focuses on identifying organizational–level contingent factors in developed countries. In this study, we advance EO research by examining how CEO self–enhancing and self–transcending values shape the relationship between EO and performance, differentially, in Chinese state–owned enterprises vs. nonstate–owned enterprises. Supporting self–concern and other–orientation theory, our sample of 148 manufacturing firms in the chemical industry in Eastern China indicates that the EO–performance relationship is stronger for high self–enhancing CEOs in state–owned enterprises, whereas the focal link is stronger for low self–enhancing CEOs in nonstate–owned enterprises.

Biculturals, or people who identify with two or more cultures, are said to play an important role in economic development by starting new ventures. However, little research has theorized or analyzed the factors that influence their propensity to do so. Based on an identity integrationist perspective, we contribute to filling this gap. We hypothesize that identity integration is a critical factor that influences entrepreneurial intentions of bicultural individuals. In addition, we hypothesize that cognitive and metacognitive cultural intelligence mediate this relationship. Empirical analyses based on survey data supported our hypothesized arguments. The findings provide guidance on the role of psychological and cognitive factors in influencing intentions.

Institutional theory has become an increasingly common lens in entrepreneurship research. Over the past years, the number of entrepreneurship studies that adopt institutional perspective (EIn research) has grown dramatically. This review systematically examines extant EIn research, analyzing 194 articles published in 11 leading journals from 1992-2014. In this review we focus on three characteristics of the articles, -institutional logic, level of analysis and methodology. Further, we identify three distinct periods of EIn research: the conceptual phase, 1992-2000, the exploration phase 2001-2007 and the acceptance phase 2008-2014. This allows us to provide detailed discussion on main characteristics of the articles and identify evolutionary trends of this research area. The overall surge of articles with institutional approaches in entrepreneurship research is promising. We can see an increasing variation of methods being applied and an increasing mutual interest between entrepreneurship and institutional theory researchers. Yet, we find substantial biases and omissions in the application of EIn. There is a focus of EIn research on national level analysis with assuming state and market logics. For EIn to move forward it has to move closer to field/industry level analysis and add new insights into entrepreneurship and alternative logics. Based on our framework and additional insights gained from the review, we outline directions for future EIn research.