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Shifts in Innovation Focus in Response to Online and Offline Shareholder Activism: Unpacking Patterns in Family and Non-Family Firms

Bao Wu¹; Yuxin Zhang¹; Hanqing “Chevy” Fang²

¹ School of Management, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, P.R. China · ² Department of Business and Information Technology, Kummer College of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Development, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO, USA

This study investigates how online and offline shareholder activism influences a firm’s innovation focus—on exploration or exploitation—in family and non-family firms. We theorize, from a mixed gamble perspective, that such activisms pose distinctive threats to a firm’s economic and non-economic interests. We analyze 7,887 firm-year observations from Chinese listed firms (2012–2022) and find that non-family firms are more likely than family firms to shift toward exploitation in response to offline activism, and family firms are more inclined to focus on exploration when facing online activism. Additionally, second-generation family firms are found to be more responsive than first-generation firms to both forms of shareholder activism.

DOI

10.1177/10422587251401182

Volume

50 (4)

Pages

1151-1184

Language

en

Export

BibTeX

Sources

crossref