Stewardship as a driver of digital business alignment in family firms: Are there performance consequences?

Stewardship can be a competitive resource that enhances collectivistic orientations and alignment within family firms. However, it is important to understand whether stewardship is beneficial in creating a shared vision between digital technology and business strategies. Although the existing literature offers limited insights into these relationships, advancing such knowledge is essential, as family firms encounter considerable challenges in implementing digital transformation, which in turn significantly affects their performance. Therefore, this study sheds light on how stewardship can work as a driver of digital business alignment, an information processing capacity aimed at the alignment of digital technology and business strategy, to enhance family firm performance, while also exploring the contingency role of family ownership. Theoretical hypotheses are tested using global survey data encompassing a sample of 2266 family firms from 70 countries. The main findings suggest a positive partial mediation, implying that stewardship family-oriented goals positively impact digital business alignment, leading to positive performance outcomes. Furthermore, family ownership weakens the positive relationship between stewardship family-oriented goals and digital business alignment. These findings have important implications for stewardship, information processing, and family firm research, providing valuable insights into the role of aligning digital and strategic interests, and managing family ownership in environments increasingly impacted by digital technologies.