IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/sbusec/v47y2016i3d10.1007_s11187-016-9762-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Centralization and delegation practices in family versus non-family SMEs: a Rasch analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Wendy L. Martin

    (Trinity International University)

  • Alexander McKelvie

    (Syracuse University)

  • G. T. Lumpkin

    (University of Oklahoma)

Abstract

In this paper, we examine differences in centralization and delegation practices of family and non-family firms. Using Aston studies measures, we examine specific types of decisions and the level of authority involved in decision making by owner-managers. We use Rasch analysis to examine the concentration of authority in a sample of 124 small- and medium-sized firms. We find that family firms maintain more centralized decision making and delegate differently than their non-family counterparts. Whereas family firms prioritize centralizing operational issues, non-family firms centralize employment issues more. Our findings have implications for understanding the distinctiveness and professionalization of family firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Wendy L. Martin & Alexander McKelvie & G. T. Lumpkin, 2016. "Centralization and delegation practices in family versus non-family SMEs: a Rasch analysis," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 755-769, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:47:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s11187-016-9762-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-016-9762-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11187-016-9762-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11187-016-9762-5?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. Danny Miller & Isabelle Le Breton‐Miller & Barry Scholnick, 2008. "Stewardship vs. Stagnation: An Empirical Comparison of Small Family and Non‐Family Businesses," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 51-78, January.
    2. Joris Meijaard & Maryse Brand & Marco Mosselman, 2005. "Organizational Structure and Performance in Dutch small Firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 83-96, August.
    3. Duchesneau, Donald A. & Gartner, William B., 1990. "A profile of new venture success and failure in an emerging industry," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 5(5), pages 297-312, September.
    4. James J. Chrisman & Pramodita Sharma & Lloyd P. Steier & Jess H. Chua, 2013. "The Influence of Family Goals, Governance, and Resources on Firm Outcomes," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(6), pages 1249-1261, November.
    5. Tim Barnett & Franz W. Kellermanns, 2006. "Are We Family and Are We Treated as Family? Nonfamily Employees’ Perceptions of Justice in the Family Firm," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 30(6), pages 837-854, November.
    6. Gaylen N. Chandler & Chalon Keller & Douglas W. Lyon, 2000. "Unraveling the Determinants and Consequences of an Innovation-Supportive Organizational Culture," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 25(1), pages 59-76, October.
    7. 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.
    8. Eric Gedajlovic & Michael H. Lubatkin & William S. Schulze, 2004. "Crossing the Threshold from Founder Management to Professional Management: A Governance Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5), pages 899-912, July.
    9. Jess H. Chua & James J. Chrisman & Lloyd P. Steier & Sabine B. Rau, 2012. "Sources of Heterogeneity in Family Firms: An Introduction," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(6), pages 1103-1113, November.
    10. Andy Cosh & Xiaolan Fu & Alan Hughes, 2012. "Organisation structure and innovation performance in different environments," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 301-317, September.
    11. Kanter, Rosabeth Moss & North, Jeffrey & Bernstein, Ann Piaget & Williamson, Alistair, 1990. "Engines of progress: Designing and running entrepreneurial vehicles in established companies," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 5(6), pages 415-430, November.
    12. 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.
    13. Robert Goffee & Richard Scase, 1985. "Proprietorial Control In Family Firms: Some Functions Of ‘Quasi‐Organic’ Management Systems," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 53-68, January.
    14. Morris, Michael H. & Williams, Roy O. & Allen, Jeffrey A. & Avila, Ramon A., 1997. "Correlates of success in family business transitions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 385-401, September.
    15. L.A.A. Van den Berghe & Steven Carchon, 2002. "Corporate Governance Practices in Flemish Family Businesses," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(3), pages 225-245, July.
    16. Chrisman, James J. & Chua, Jess H. & Litz, Reginald, 2003. "A unified systems perspective of family firm performance: an extension and integration," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 467-472, July.
    17. Jeffrey G. Covin & Dennis P. Slevin, 1989. "Strategic management of small firms in hostile and benign environments," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 75-87, January.
    18. David Andrich, 1978. "A rating formulation for ordered response categories," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 43(4), pages 561-573, December.
    19. Robert K. Kazanjian & Robert Drazin, 1989. "An Empirical Test of a Stage of Growth Progression Model," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(12), pages 1489-1503, December.
    20. Jeffrey G. Covin & Dennis P. Slevin, 1988. "The Influence Of Organization Structure On The Utility Of An Entrepreneurial Top Management Style," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 217-234, May.
    21. 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.
    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. James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Alfredo Massis & Tommaso Minola & Silvio Vismara, 2016. "Management processes and strategy execution in family firms: from “what” to “how”," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 719-734, October.
    2. Ipsmiller, Edith & Dikova, Desislava & Brouthers, Keith D., 2022. "Digital Internationalization of Traditional Firms: Virtual Presence and Entrepreneurial Orientation," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(4).
    3. Matar Ibrahim & Raudeliūnienė Jurgita, 2018. "A Road Map for Enhancing the Entrepreneurial Knowledge Potential of the Lebanese Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises," Open Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 1(1), pages 131-141, October.
    4. 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.
    5. Sami Basly & Amira Hammouda, 2020. "Family Businesses and Digital Entrepreneurship Adoption: A Conceptual Model," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 29(2), pages 326-364, September.
    6. Kerbouche Mohammed & Bouguesri Imene, 2020. "A Structural Analysis of the Chinese Patriarchal Family Business Model: What Happens in the Corridors of the Shrine?," Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 34(1), pages 224-245, February.
    7. D’Angelo, Alfredo & Buck, Trevor, 2019. "The earliness of exporting and creeping sclerosis? The moderating effects of firm age, size and centralization," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 428-437.
    8. Dessì, Cinzia & Dettori, Angela & Floris, Michela, 2023. "Exploring different configurations of entrepreneurial orientation in small artisan family firms: A multi-case study," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(3).
    9. Vanessa Weimann & Maike Gerken & Marcel Hülsbeck, 2020. "Business model innovation in family firms: dynamic capabilities and the moderating role of socioemotional wealth," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 90(3), pages 369-399, April.
    10. Alfredo De Massis & Kimberly A. Eddleston & Paola Rovelli, 2021. "Entrepreneurial by Design: How Organizational Design Affects Family and Non‐family Firms’ Opportunity Exploitation," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 27-62, January.
    11. Vanessa Yanes-Estévez & Ana María García-Pérez & Juan Ramón Oreja-Rodríguez, 2018. "The Strategic Behaviour of SMEs," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-21, October.
    12. Iryna Alves & Sofia M. Lourenço, 2022. "The use of non-financial performance measures for managerial compensation: evidence from SMEs," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 151-187, June.

    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. Flamini, Giulia & Pittino, Daniel & Visintin, Francesca, 2022. "Family leadership, family involvement and mutuality HRM practices in family SMEs," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(2).
    2. Felipe Hernández-Perlines & Juan Moreno-García & Benito Yáñez-Araque, 2019. "The influence of socioemotional wealth in the entrepreneurial orientation of family businesses," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 523-544, June.
    3. Hernández-Perlines, Felipe & Covin, Jeffrey G. & Ribeiro-Soriano, Domingo E., 2021. "Entrepreneurial orientation, concern for socioemotional wealth preservation, and family firm performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 197-208.
    4. Mike W. Peng & Wei Sun & Cristina Vlas & Alessandro Minichilli & Guido Corbetta, 2018. "An Institution-Based View of Large Family Firms: A Recap and Overview," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(2), pages 187-205, March.
    5. Gedajlovic, Eric & Cao, Qing & Zhang, Hongping, 2012. "Corporate shareholdings and organizational ambidexterity in high-tech SMEs: Evidence from a transitional economy," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 652-665.
    6. 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.
    7. McGuire, Jean & Dow, Sandra & Ibrahim, Bakr, 2012. "All in the family? Social performance and corporate governance in the family firm," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(11), pages 1643-1650.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. Kim, Y. & Gao, F.Y., 2013. "Does family involvement increase business performance? Family-longevity goals’ moderating role in Chinese family firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 265-274.
    11. Isabelle Le Breton-Miller & Danny Miller, 2009. "Agency vs. Stewardship in Public Family Firms: A Social Embeddedness Reconciliation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(6), pages 1169-1191, November.
    12. G. T. Lumpkin & Keith H. Brigham, 2011. "Long–Term Orientation and Intertemporal Choice in Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(6), pages 1149-1169, November.
    13. Patricio Duran & Marcelo Ortiz, 2020. "When More Is Better: Multifamily Firms and Firm Performance," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(4), pages 761-783, July.
    14. Volkan Yeniaras & Pinar Sener & Suheyl Unver, 0. "Is market learning the missing link between family involvement – firm performance relationship? A resource-based perspective," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-30.
    15. Volkan Yeniaras & Pinar Sener & Suheyl Unver, 2017. "Is market learning the missing link between family involvement – firm performance relationship? A resource-based perspective," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 575-604, June.
    16. 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).
    17. Vanessa Diaz-Moriana & Eric Clinton & Nadine Kammerlander & G. T. Lumpkin & Justin B. Craig, 2020. "Innovation Motives in Family Firms: A Transgenerational View," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(2), pages 256-287, March.
    18. J. Ruben Boling & Torsten M. Pieper & Jeffrey G. Covin, 2016. "CEO Tenure and Entrepreneurial Orientation within Family and Nonfamily Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(4), pages 891-913, July.
    19. García-Ramos, Rebeca & García-Olalla, Myriam, 2011. "Board characteristics and firm performance in public founder- and nonfounder-led family businesses," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 220-231.
    20. Ahlers, Oliver & Hack, Andreas & Kellermanns, Franz W., 2014. "“Stepping into the buyers’ shoes”: Looking at the value of family firms through the eyes of private equity investors," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 384-396.

    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:47:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s11187-016-9762-5. 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.