IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/fambus/v12y2021i2s1877858521000231.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Business families in times of crises: The backbone of family firm resilience and continuity

Author

Listed:
  • Calabrò, Andrea
  • Frank, Hermann
  • Minichilli, Alessandro
  • Suess-Reyes, Julia

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the current Covid-19 pandemic and the related world economic crisis, we reflect on the role of the business family as a pivotal resource in family firm crisis management. We discuss how business families respond to the pandemic outbreak and how some accomplish to turn challenges into opportunities and manage to emerge from the crisis even stronger than before. Related to that, we develop a research agenda on crisis management in family firms and the specific role of the business family in this regard. We also introduce the four articles in this special issue which were initially presented at the 3rd International Family Business Research Forum (IFBRF) at WU Vienna in September 2017. All four articles tackle core topics in family business research and practice, including succession, innovation and family governance, which are core elements for building a resilient business family.

Suggested Citation

  • Calabrò, Andrea & Frank, Hermann & Minichilli, Alessandro & Suess-Reyes, Julia, 2021. "Business families in times of crises: The backbone of family firm resilience and continuity," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(2).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:fambus:v:12:y:2021:i:2:s1877858521000231
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfbs.2021.100442
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877858521000231
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jfbs.2021.100442?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hauck, Jana & Suess-Reyes, Julia & Beck, Susanne & Prügl, Reinhard & Frank, Hermann, 2016. "Measuring socioemotional wealth in family-owned and -managed firms: A validation and short form of the FIBER Scale," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 133-148.
    2. Michael Carney, 2005. "Corporate Governance and Competitive Advantage in Family–Controlled Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(3), pages 249-265, May.
    3. Baù, Massimo & Pittino, Daniel & Sieger, Philipp & Eddleston, Kimberly A., 2020. "Careers in family business: New avenues for careers and family business research in the 21st century," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(3).
    4. Nils Engelhardt & Miguel Krause & Daniel Neukirchen & Peter Posch, 2020. "What Drives Stocks during the Corona-Crash? News Attention vs. Rational Expectation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-12, June.
    5. Zhou, Haoyong & He, Fan & Wang, Yangbo, 2017. "Did family firms perform better during the financial crisis? New insights from the S&P 500 firms," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 88-103.
    6. Umans, Ine & Lybaert, Nadine & Steijvers, Tensie & Voordeckers, Wim, 2021. "The influence of transgenerational succession intentions on the succession planning process: The moderating role of high-quality relationships," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(2).
    7. Cunningham, James & Seaman, Claire & McGuire, David, 2016. "Knowledge sharing in small family firms: A leadership perspective," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 34-46.
    8. Alan L. Carsrud & Malin Brännback, 2011. "Understanding Family Firms," SpringerBriefs in Business, Springer, number 978-1-4614-0866-6, October.
    9. Isabelle Le Breton-Miller & Danny Miller, 2018. "Beyond the Firm: Business Families as Entrepreneurs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(4), pages 527-536, July.
    10. Bruno Amann & Jacques Jaussaud, 2012. "Family and non-family business resilience in an economic downturn," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 203-223, April.
    11. David G. Sirmon & Michael A. Hitt, 2003. "Managing Resources: Linking Unique Resources, Management, and Wealth Creation in Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 27(4), pages 339-358, October.
    12. Le Breton-Miller, Isabelle & Miller, Danny & Bares, Franck, 2015. "Governance and entrepreneurship in family firms: Agency, behavioral agency and resource-based comparisons," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 58-62.
    13. Christensen-Salem, Amanda & Mesquita, Luiz F. & Hashimoto, Marcos & Hom, Peter W. & Gomez-Mejia, Luis R., 2021. "Family firms are indeed better places to work than non-family firms! Socioemotional wealth and employees’ perceived organizational caring," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(1).
    14. Zybura, Jan & Zybura, Nora & Ahrens, Jan-Philipp & Woywode, Michael, 2021. "Innovation in the post-succession phase of family firms: Family CEO successors and leadership constellations as resources," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(2).
    15. Miller, Danny & Amore, Mario Daniele & Le Breton-Miller, Isabelle & Minichilli, Alessandro & Quarato, Fabio, 2018. "Strategic distinctiveness in family firms: Firm institutional heterogeneity and configurational multidimensionality," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 16-26.
    16. Habbershon, Timothy G. & Williams, Mary & MacMillan, Ian C., 2003. "A unified systems perspective of family firm performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 451-465, July.
    17. Warwick McKibbin & Roshen Fernando, 2021. "The Global Macroeconomic Impacts of COVID-19: Seven Scenarios," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 20(2), pages 1-30, Summer.
    18. Bloemen-Bekx, Mira & Van Gils, Anita & Lambrechts, Frank & Sharma, Pramodita, 2021. "Nurturing offspring’s affective commitment through informal family governance mechanisms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(2).
    19. Binz Astrachan, Claudia & Astrachan, Joseph H. & Kotlar, Josip & Michiels, Anneleen, 2021. "Addressing the theory-practice divide in family business research: The case of shareholder agreements," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(1).
    20. Torben M. Andersen & Giuseppe Bertola & Clemens Fuest & Cecilia Garcia-Peñalosa & Harold James & Jan-Egbert Sturm & Branko Uroševic, 2020. "Chapter 1: Economic Developments around the World: Corona Crisis Leads to Worst Recession in 90 Years," EEAG Report on the European Economy, CESifo, vol. 0, pages 3-8, July.
    21. Karl V. Lins & Paolo Volpin & Hannes F. Wagner, 2013. "Does Family Control Matter? International Evidence from the 2008--2009 Financial Crisis," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(10), pages 2583-2619.
    22. Amore, Mario Daniele & Pelucco, Valerio & Quarato, Fabio, 2022. "Family ownership during the Covid-19 pandemic," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    23. Sascha Kraus & Petra Moog & Susanne Schlepphorst & Margit Raich, 2013. "Crisis and turnaround management in SMEs: a qualitative-empirical investigation of 30 companies," International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 5(4), pages 406-430.
    24. Suess, Julia, 2014. "Family governance – Literature review and the development of a conceptual model," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 138-155.
    25. Bruno Amann & Jacques Jaussaud, 2012. "Family and Non-Family Business Resilience in an Economic Downturn," Post-Print hal-02431086, HAL.
    26. Lee, Soo-Hoon & Phan, Phillip H. & Ding, Hung-bin, 2016. "A theory of family employee involvement during resource paucity," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 160-166.
    27. Danny Miller & Isabelle Le Breton‐Miller & Richard H. Lester, 2011. "Family and Lone Founder Ownership and Strategic Behaviour: Social Context, Identity, and Institutional Logics," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 1-25, January.
    28. Hermann Frank & Alexander Kessler & Thomas Rusch & Julia Suess–Reyes & Daniela Weismeier–Sammer, 2017. "Capturing the Familiness of Family Businesses: Development of the Family Influence Familiness Scale (FIFS)," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(5), pages 709-742, September.
    29. Elsbach, Kimberly D. & Pieper, Torsten M., 2019. "How psychological needs motivate family firm identifications and identifiers: A framework and future research agenda," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 1-1.
    30. Suresh De Mel & David McKenzie & Christopher Woodruff, 2012. "Enterprise Recovery Following Natural Disasters," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 122(559), pages 64-91, March.
    31. Kandade, Kiran & Samara, Georges & Parada, Maria José & Dawson, Alexandra, 2021. "From family successors to successful business leaders: A qualitative study of how high-quality relationships develop in family businesses," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(2).
    32. Thomas M. Zellweger & Franz W. Kellermanns & James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua, 2012. "Family Control and Family Firm Valuation by Family CEOs: The Importance of Intentions for Transgenerational Control," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(3), pages 851-868, June.
    33. Lyócsa, Štefan & Molnár, Peter, 2020. "Stock market oscillations during the corona crash: The role of fear and uncertainty," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 36(C).
    34. Rogoff, Edward G. & Heck, Ramona Kay Zachary, 2003. "Evolving research in entrepreneurship and family business: recognizing family as the oxygen that feeds the fire of entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 559-566, September.
    35. Olson, Patricia D. & Zuiker, Virginia S. & Danes, Sharon M. & Stafford, Kathryn & Heck, Ramona K. Z. & Duncan, Karen A., 2003. "The impact of the family and the business on family business sustainability," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 639-666, September.
    36. Dean A. Shepherd & Trenton A. Williams, 2014. "Local Venturing as Compassion Organizing in the Aftermath of a Natural Disaster: The Role of Localness and Community in Reducing Suffering," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(6), pages 952-994, September.
    37. Celina Smith, 2016. "Environmental Jolts : Understanding How Family Firms Respond and Why," Post-Print hal-02311914, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jaufenthaler, Philipp, 2023. "A safe haven in times of crisis: The appeal of family companies as employers amid the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(1).
    2. Bürgel, Tobias R. & Hiebl, Martin R.W. & Pielsticker, David I., 2023. "Digitalization and entrepreneurial firms' resilience to pandemic crises: Evidence from COVID-19 and the German Mittelstand," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 186(PA).
    3. Mahto, Raj V. & Llanos-Contreras, Orlando & Hebles, Melany, 2022. "Post-disaster recovery for family firms: The role of owner motivations, firm resources, and dynamic capabilities," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 117-129.
    4. Elias Hadjielias & Michael Christofi & Shlomo Tarba, 2022. "Contextualizing small business resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from small business owner-managers," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(4), pages 1351-1380, December.
    5. Maura Pozzi & Carlo Pistoni & Silvio Carlo Ripamonti & Amalia De Leo, 2023. "Generation and Gender Differences in Family Businesses: A New Psychological Perspective," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 919-934, December.
    6. Issah, Wunnam Basit & Anwar, Muhammad & Clauss, Thomas & Kraus, Sascha, 2023. "Managerial capabilities and strategic renewal in family firms in crisis situations: The moderating role of the founding generation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    7. Qingqing Lin & Julie Jie Wen, 2021. "Family Business, Resilience, and Ethnic Tourism in Yunnan, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-9, October.
    8. Zahra, Shaker A., 2022. "International entrepreneurship by family firms post Covid," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(2).
    9. Chihkang Kenny Wu & Ngoc Anh Nguyen & Thanh Quoc Thuan Dang & Mai-Uyen Nguyen, 2022. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Ethnic Business Households Involved in Tourism in Ninh Thuan, Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-15, December.
    10. Juliana R. Baltazar & Cristina I. Fernandes & Veland Ramadani & Mathew Hughes, 2023. "Family business succession and innovation: a systematic literature review," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(8), pages 2897-2920, November.
    11. Fernandez, Viviana, 2023. "Family entrepreneurship around the world," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    12. Andrea Calabrò & James J. Chrisman & Liena Kano, 2022. "Family-owned multinational enterprises in the post-pandemic global economy," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(5), pages 920-935, July.
    13. Wang, Zhonghui “Hugo” & Randolph, Robert & Su, Emma & Memili, Esra, 2023. "How does the founding family matter in corporate governance? A study of the entrenchment heterogeneity among S&P 1,500 firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    14. Ivan Miroshnychenko & Giorgio Vocalelli & Alfredo Massis & Stefano Grassi & Francesco Ravazzolo, 2024. "The COVID-19 pandemic and family business performance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 213-241, January.
    15. Frank, Hermann & Kessler, Alexander & Beck, Susanne & Suess-Reyes, Julia & Fuetsch, Elena, 2023. "The enterpriseness of business families: Conceptualization, scale development and validation," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(2).
    16. Luis R. Gómez-Mejia & Francesco Chirico & Geoffrey Martin & Massimo Baù, 2023. "Best Among the Worst or Worst Among the Best? Socioemotional Wealth and Risk-Performance Returns for Family and Non-family Firms Under Financial Distress," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(4), pages 1031-1058, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Espeche, José Francisco Tragant & Sacristán-Navarro, María & Zúñiga-Vicente, José Ángel & Crespo, Nuno Fernandes, 2023. "Innovation and internationalisation during times of economic growth, crisis, and recovery prior to Covid-19: A configurational approach comparing Spanish manufacturing family and non-family firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(1).
    2. DODERO ORTIZ DE ZEVALLOS Gino Felix & CLEMENTE-ALMENDROS José Antonio & BAHAMONDES ROSADO María Emilia, 2023. "The Covid-19 Crisis And The Financial Impact On Family Firms," Studies in Business and Economics, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 18(2), pages 86-108, August.
    3. Cherchem, Naïma, 2017. "The relationship between organizational culture and entrepreneurial orientation in family firms: Does generational involvement matter?," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 87-98.
    4. Arrondo-García, Rubén & Fernández-Méndez, Carlos & Menéndez-Requejo, Susana, 2016. "The growth and performance of family businesses during the global financial crisis: The role of the generation in control," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 7(4), pages 227-237.
    5. Schickinger, Antonia & Bierl, Philipp A. & Leitterstorf, Max P. & Kammerlander, Nadine, 2023. "Family-related goals, entrepreneurial investment behavior, and governance mechanisms of single family offices: An exploratory study," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(2).
    6. Svenja Jarchow & Christoph Kaserer & Henry Keppler, 2023. "Family firm performance in times of crisis—new evidence from Germany," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 13(3), pages 543-580, September.
    7. Davila, Jessenia & Duran, Patricio & Gómez-Mejía, Luis & Sanchez-Bueno, Maria J., 2023. "Socioemotional wealth and family firm performance: A meta-analytic integration," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(2).
    8. Maarten B.T. de Groot & Oli R. Mihalache & Tom Elfring, 2022. "Toward a Theory of Family Social Capital in Wealthy Transgenerational Enterprise Families," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(1), pages 159-192, January.
    9. Hafner, Cornelius & Pidun, Ulrich, 2022. "Getting family firm diversification right: A configurational perspective on product and international diversification strategies," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(1).
    10. Marta Widz & Nadine Kammerlander, 2023. "Entrepreneurial exit intentions in emerging economies: a neoinstitutional perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 615-638, February.
    11. Heino, Noora & Tuominen, Pasi & Jussila, Iiro, 2020. "Listed Family Firm Stakeholder Orientations: The Critical Role of Value-creating Family Factors," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(4).
    12. Zybura, Jan & Zybura, Nora & Ahrens, Jan-Philipp & Woywode, Michael, 2021. "Innovation in the post-succession phase of family firms: Family CEO successors and leadership constellations as resources," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(2).
    13. Clinton, Eric & McAdam, Maura & Gamble, Jordan Robert, 2018. "Transgenerational entrepreneurial family firms: An examination of the business model construct," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 269-285.
    14. Cambrea, Domenico Rocco & Ponomareva, Yuliya & Pittino, Daniel & Minichilli, Alessandro, 2022. "Strings attached: Socioemotional wealth mixed gambles in the cash management choices of family firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(3).
    15. Marinko Škare & Małgorzata Porada-Rochoń, 2021. "Measuring the impact of financial cycles on family firms: how to prepare for crisis?," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 1111-1130, September.
    16. Marie Mikušová & Václav Friedrich & Petra Horváthová, 2020. "Who is More Sustainable? Family Business or Non-Family Business? Czech Evidence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-26, July.
    17. Barros, Ismael & Hernangómez, Juan & Martin-Cruz, Natalia, 2016. "A theoretical model of strategic management of family firms. A dynamic capabilities approach," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 149-159.
    18. Sherlock, Chelsea & Dibrell, Clay & Memili, Esra, 2023. "The impact of family commitment on firm innovativeness: The mediating role of resource stocks," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(3).
    19. Sciascia, Salvatore & Mazzola, Pietro & Kellermanns, Franz W., 2014. "Family management and profitability in private family-owned firms: Introducing generational stage and the socioemotional wealth perspective," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 131-137.
    20. Lee, Tingko & Chu, Wenyi, 2017. "The relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance: Influence of family governance," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 213-223.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:fambus:v:12:y:2021:i:2:s1877858521000231. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/719791/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.