IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/sbusec/v44y2015i1p105-122.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Board ownership and processes in family firms

Author

Listed:
  • Fabio Zona

Abstract

This study examines how board ownership shapes board processes in family firms. The extant family firm research has extensively adopted an input–output approach to the study of boards, but results have been inconclusive, calling for further research on intervening processes. By examining board ownership, this study shows that board processes are shaped by the life cycles of family firms across generations, as reflected in ownership dispersion among family directors: Cognitive conflict is the highest and the use of knowledge and skills is the lowest when the levels of balance in a board’s voting power are moderate, which occurs when the board mostly mirrors a sibling partnership. A discussion of this study’s findings contributes to the literature on family firm boards, work groups, and corporate governance. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Fabio Zona, 2015. "Board ownership and processes in family firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 105-122, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:44:y:2015:i:1:p:105-122
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-014-9587-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11187-014-9587-z
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11187-014-9587-z?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. Franz Kellermanns & Kimberly Eddleston & Ravi Sarathy & Fran Murphy, 2012. "Innovativeness in family firms: a family influence perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 85-101, January.
    2. Kellermanns, Franz W. & Eddleston, Kimberly A., 2007. "A family perspective on when conflict benefits family firm performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(10), pages 1048-1057, October.
    3. Weldon, Elizabeth & Gargano, Gina M., 1985. "Cognitive effort in additive task groups: The effects of shared responsibility on the quality of multiattribute judgments," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 348-361, December.
    4. Isabelle Le Breton-Miller & Danny Miller & Richard H. Lester, 2011. "Stewardship or Agency? A Social Embeddedness Reconciliation of Conduct and Performance in Public Family Businesses," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(3), pages 704-721, June.
    5. Yannick Bammens & Wim Voordeckers & Anita Gils, 2008. "Boards of directors in family firms: a generational perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 163-180, August.
    6. Michael D. Ensley & Allison W. Pearson, 2005. "An Exploratory Comparison of the Behavioral Dynamics of Top Management Teams in Family and Nonfamily New Ventures: Cohesion, Conflict, Potency, and Consensus," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(3), pages 267-284, May.
    7. Marta Berent-Braun & Lorraine Uhlaner, 2012. "Family governance practices and teambuilding: paradox of the enterprising family," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 103-119, January.
    8. Franz W. Kellermanns & Kimberly A. Eddleston, 2004. "Feuding Families: When Conflict Does a Family Firm Good," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 28(3), pages 209-228, May.
    9. Fabio Zona & Alessandro Zattoni, 2007. "Beyond the Black Box of Demography: board processes and task effectiveness within Italian firms," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(5), pages 852-864, September.
    10. Salvatore Sciascia & Pietro Mazzola & Joseph Astrachan & Torsten Pieper, 2012. "The role of family ownership in international entrepreneurship: exploring nonlinear effects," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 15-31, January.
    11. Charles R. Schwenk, 1990. "Conflict in Organizational Decision Making: An Exploratory Study of Its Effects in For-Profit and Not-For-Profit Organizations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(4), pages 436-448, April.
    12. Anaïs Hamelin, 2013. "Influence of family ownership on small business growth. Evidence from French SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 563-579, October.
    13. Jess H. Chua & James J. Chrisman & Pramodita Sharma, 1999. "Defining the Family Business by Behavior," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 23(4), pages 19-39, July.
    14. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding-Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1327, June.
    15. Wenyi Chu, 2009. "The influence of family ownership on SME performance: evidence from public firms in Taiwan," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 353-373, October.
    16. Lorraine Uhlaner & Franz Kellermanns & Kimberly Eddleston & Frank Hoy, 2012. "The entrepreneuring family: a new paradigm for family business research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 1-11, January.
    17. Lorraine Uhlaner & Franz Kellermanns & Kimberly Eddleston & Frank Hoy, 2012. "Erratum to: The entrepreneuring family: a new paradigm for family business research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 13-13, January.
    18. Shaker Zahra, 2012. "Organizational learning and entrepreneurship in family firms: exploring the moderating effect of ownership and cohesion," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 51-65, January.
    19. Henk De Jong, 1997. "The Governance Structure and Performance of Large European Corporations," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 1(1), pages 5-27, March.
    20. Carlos Benavides-Velasco & Cristina Quintana-García & Vanesa Guzmán-Parra, 2013. "Trends in family business research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 41-57, January.
    21. William S. Schulze & Michael H. Lubatkin & Richard N. Dino & Ann K. Buchholtz, 2001. "Agency Relationships in Family Firms: Theory and Evidence," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(2), pages 99-116, April.
    22. David M. Schweiger & William R. Sandberg, 1989. "The utilization of individual capabilities in group approaches to strategic decision‐making," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 31-43, January.
    23. Barth, Erling & Gulbrandsen, Trygve & Schonea, Pal, 2005. "Family ownership and productivity: the role of owner-management," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-2), pages 107-127, March.
    24. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding‐Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1328, June.
    25. Francesco Barbera & Ken Moores, 2013. "Firm ownership and productivity: a study of family and non-family SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 953-976, May.
    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. Claudia Pongelli & Matteo Giuliano Caroli & Marco Cucculelli, 2016. "Family business going abroad: the effect of family ownership on foreign market entry mode decisions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 787-801, October.
    2. Fabio Zona, 2016. "CEO leadership and board decision processes in family-controlled firms: comparing family and non-family CEOs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 735-753, October.
    3. Francesco Debellis & Mariateresa Torchia & Fabio Quarato & Andrea Calabrò, 2023. "Board openness and family firm internationalization: a social capital perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(4), pages 1431-1448, April.
    4. Corten, Maarten & Steijvers, Tensie & Lybaert, Nadine, 2017. "The effect of intrafamily agency conflicts on audit demand in private family firms: The moderating role of the board of directors," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 13-28.
    5. Vandebeek, Alana & Voordeckers, Wim & Lambrechts, Frank & Huybrechts, Jolien, 2016. "Board role performance and faultlines in family firms: The moderating role of formal board evaluation," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 7(4), pages 249-259.
    6. Bauweraerts, Jonathan & Arzubiaga, Unai & Diaz-Moriana, Vanessa, 2022. "Unveiling the global focus-performance relationship in family firms: The role of the board of directors," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(4).
    7. Ozbek, O. Volkan, 2021. "Market Performance of Spun-Off Subsidiaries: Effects of Board Independence and Directors’ Industry Experience," American Business Review, Pompea College of Business, University of New Haven, vol. 24(1), pages 249-267, May.
    8. Vandekerkhof, Pieter & Steijvers, Tensie & Hendriks, Walter & Voordeckers, Wim, 2019. "The effect of nonfamily managers on decision-making quality in family firm TMTs: The role of intra-TMT power asymmetries," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 1-1.
    9. Oliver Lukason & María-del-Mar Camacho-Miñano, 2020. "Corporate Governance Characteristics of Private SMEs’ Annual Report Submission Violations," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-19, September.

    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. Nicolas Classen & Martin Carree & Anita Gils & Bettina Peters, 2014. "Innovation in family and non-family SMEs: an exploratory analysis," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 595-609, March.
    2. Michael Carney & Marc Van Essen & Eric R. Gedajlovic & Pursey P.M.A.R. Heugens, 2015. "What do we know about Private Family Firms? A Meta–Analytical Review," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(3), pages 513-544, May.
    3. Jean-Luc Arregle & Francesco Chirico & Liena Kano & Sumit K. Kundu & Antonio Majocchi & William S. Schulze, 2021. "Family firm internationalization: Past research and an agenda for the future," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(6), pages 1159-1198, August.
    4. Salvatore Sciascia & Pietro Mazzola & Joseph Astrachan & Torsten Pieper, 2012. "The role of family ownership in international entrepreneurship: exploring nonlinear effects," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 15-31, January.
    5. Kosmidou, Vasiliki & Holt, Daniel T., 2022. "The relationship between family management and performance: A configurational approach in exploring the role of socioemotional wealth and generational stage," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(4).
    6. Ismael Barros-Contreras & Héctor Pérez-Fernández & Natalia Martín-Cruz & Juan Hernangómez B., 2023. "Can we make family social capital flourish? The moderating role of generational involvement," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 655-673, September.
    7. Francesco Aiello & Lidia Mannarino & Valeria Pupo, 2020. "Innovation and productivity in family firms: evidence from a sample of European firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 394-416, May.
    8. Jelle Schepers & Wim Voordeckers & Tensie Steijvers & Eddy Laveren, 2014. "The entrepreneurial orientation–performance relationship in private family firms: the moderating role of socioemotional wealth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 39-55, June.
    9. Kraiczy, Nils D. & Hack, Andreas & Kellermanns, Franz W., 2014. "New product portfolio performance in family firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(6), pages 1065-1073.
    10. Julia Suess-Reyes, 2017. "Understanding the transgenerational orientation of family businesses: the role of family governance and business family identity," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(6), pages 749-777, August.
    11. Wright, Mike & Kellermanns, Franz W., 2011. "Family firms: A research agenda and publication guide," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 187-198.
    12. Creemers, Sarah & Peeters, Ludo & Quiroz Castillo, Juan Luis & Vancauteren, Mark & Voordeckers, Wim, 2023. "Family firms and the labor productivity controversy: A distributional analysis of varying labor productivity gaps," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(2).
    13. Priya Dhamija Gupta & Sonali Bhattacharya, 2016. "Impact of Knowledge Management Processes for Sustainability of Small Family Businesses: Evidences from the Brassware Sector of Moradabad (India)," Journal of Information & Knowledge Management (JIKM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 15(04), pages 1-46, December.
    14. Andrea Calabrò & Rosalia Santulli & Mariateresa Torchia & Carmen Gallucci, 2021. "Entrepreneurial Orientation and Family Firm Performance: The Moderating Role of TMT Identity-Based and Knowledge-Based Faultlines," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(4), pages 838-866, July.
    15. Andreas Kallmuenzer & Andreas Strobl & Mike Peters, 2018. "Tweaking the entrepreneurial orientation–performance relationship in family firms: the effect of control mechanisms and family-related goals," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 855-883, October.
    16. James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Franz Kellermanns, 2009. "Priorities, Resource Stocks, and Performance in Family and Nonfamily Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(3), pages 739-760, May.
    17. Arz, Christopher, 2019. "Bridging the micro-macro gap: A multi-layer culture framework for understanding entrepreneurial orientation in family firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 1-1.
    18. Matthias Filser & Alexander Brem & Johanna Gast & Sascha Kraus & Andrea Calabrò, 2016. "Innovation In Family Firms — Examining The Inventory And Mapping The Path," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(06), pages 1-39, August.
    19. Kammerlander, Nadine & Sieger, Philipp & Voordeckers, Wim & Zellweger, Thomas, 2015. "Value creation in family firms: A model of fit," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 63-72.
    20. Alfredo De Massis & Josip Kotlar & Pietro Mazzola & Tommaso Minola & Salvatore Sciascia, 2018. "Conflicting Selves: Family Owners' Multiple Goals and Self-Control Agency Problems in Private Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(3), pages 362-389, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Boards of directors; Board ownership; Family firms; L2; L26; M10; M12; D23;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • M10 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - General
    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:kap:sbusec:v:44:y:2015:i:1:p:105-122. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.