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Management processes and strategy execution in family firms: from “what” to “how”

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Abstract

The distinctiveness of family firms’ goals, structures, resources, strategies, and performance has been studied in terms of what family firms do or are able to achieve that are different from those of nonfamily firms. This dominant approach to studying family firm behavior has contributed significantly to our understanding of such organizations. Currently, however, we know little about how family firm decisions are made and the processes by which family firms plan and execute. We develop a conceptual framework and set out an agenda for future research on how the distinctive/unique interaction between the business and the family influences the management processes by which family firms implement their strategies.

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Notes

  1. The family business literature uses three different adjectives (distinctive, idiosyncratic, and particularistic) to describe the differences between family and nonfamily motivations, behavior, resources, and performance. We use them interchangeably here although we realize that they are not strictly equivalent.

  2. De Massis et al. (2014a, b) present a comprehensive review of correlates and measures of both ability and willingness constructs.

  3. It is worth noting that, as illustrated in Fig. 1, we have assumed a hierarchy among goals, governance and resources. Consistent with the strategic management perspective, we assume that goals are the guiding factor of governance, and goals and governance in turn set the conditions for the use of resources.

  4. We use the term “strategy execution” here instead of the more commonly used “strategy implementation” to emphasize that this is about how because the latter tends to be applied in a sense that is most frequently about what are or need to be done and only occasionally about how.

  5. Conceptually, both ability and willingness influence all three drivers. Partly for emphasis and partly to avoid cluttering the figure, we chose to focus on the most important influences.

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Acknowledgments

We are indebted to Jean-Luc Arregle, Cristina Bettinelli, Mara Brumana, Giovanna Campopiano, Allan Discua Cruz, Junsheng Dou, Feranita Feranita, Federico Frattini, Qihai Huang, Marcel Hueslbeck, Peter Jaskiewicz, Carla Jones, Erik Lehmann, Nadine Kammerlander, Josip Kotlar, Antonio Majocchi, Antonio Messeni Petruzzelli, Lucia Naldi, Mattias Nordqvist, Martin Obschonka, Alejandro Rialp Criado, Salvatore Sciascia, Philipp Sieger, Anita van Gils, Wim Voordeckers and Miriam Zschoche who provided valuable assistance as reviewers of the papers submitted to this special issue.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mississippi State University, Mississippi, MS, USA

    James J. Chrisman

  2. University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

    James J. Chrisman

  3. University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

    Jess H. Chua

  4. Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

    Jess H. Chua & Alfredo De Massis

  5. Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

    Jess H. Chua

  6. Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy

    Alfredo De Massis

  7. University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy

    Tommaso Minola & Silvio Vismara

  8. University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany

    Silvio Vismara

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  1. James J. Chrisman
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Correspondence to Silvio Vismara.

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Chrisman, J.J., Chua, J.H., De Massis, A. et al. Management processes and strategy execution in family firms: from “what” to “how”. Small Bus Econ 47, 719–734 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-016-9772-3

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