Abstract
PurposeThe aim of this study was to obtain evidence of the practical significance of the generational involvement (GI) of top management teams (TMT) on the nexus between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and business performance (BP) in small family businesses (SFBs).Design/methodology/approachThis study employed a questionnaire survey of 112 Malaysian SFBs. The data was analyzed using descriptive analysis, hierarchical multiple regression analysis and a two-way interaction model.FindingsThe results indicate that SFBs have a positive EO–BP nexus. However, the study found that TMT-GI has a negative effect on EO and reduces the positive nexus between EO and BP. Specifically, higher levels of GI were associated with lower levels of EO and weaker BP.Research limitations/implicationsThe study raises the necessity for SFBs to seek out a management mechanism and structure to balance the entrepreneurial boundary between the family-level and the business-level when there is increased GI. Additionally to the current, incorporating family TMT-related human ecology aspect of GI with the family business field could lead to a new research value stream.Practical implicationsThe results of this study will enable family business decision makers and TMT to better understand the importance of considering family factors in their management strategies.Originality/valueThis analysis highlights the spatial relation of family-level logic in dominating EO–BP nexus at intervals in SFBs, where family factor of TMT-GI will be a key moderator.
Subject
Strategy and Management,Economics, Econometrics and Finance (miscellaneous)
Reference66 articles.
1. Methodological artifacts in moderated multi ple regression and their effects on statistical power;Journal of Applied Psychology,1997
2. Exploratory and exploitative innovation in family businesses: the moderating role of the family firm image and family involvement in top management;Review of Managerial Science,2017
3. Strategy in family business: toward a multidimensional research agenda;Journal of Family Business Strategy,2010
4. Successful succession in family business;Family Business Review,1995
5. Entry of the next generation: strategic challenge for family business;Journal of Small Business Management,1988