Introduction

Abstract

This book focuses on SME firms because they constitute the vast majority of businesses in general economies. Moreover, the relationship between family involvement and firm performance (economic and noneconomic) is likely to be more pronounced and more important in influencing behaviors in small businesses than in large businesses, where nonfamily managers, greater ownership dispersion, and independent boards of directors may attenuate the relationships of interest. Hence this research examines how family influences the business performance (economic and noneconomic) of Portuguese SMEs and how such a relationship is mediated by stewardship behavior. We hypothesize that differences in performance (i.e., economic and noneconomic) are not driven only by family involvement or lack thereof, but by the prevalence of stewardship relationships within the firm, whatever the degree of family involvement.