IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i12p6979-d579116.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Intergenerational Differences in Family Business Management and Their Influence on Business Profitability

Author

Listed:
  • Jordi Moreno-Gené

    (Department of Business Administration, University of Lleida, C/Jaume II, 73, 25001 Lleida, Spain)

  • José Luis Gallizo

    (Department of Business Administration, University of Lleida, C/Jaume II, 73, 25001 Lleida, Spain)

Abstract

The generational change in the family business opens up expectations of strategies such as sustainability, professionalisation and internationalisation. Yet, there are gaps in current literature which fail to explain whether there are benefits in such strategies according to their management, their generational status, and their effects on performance. This paper compared first with second and later generation companies through the relevant characteristics. A regression analysis was applied to a sample that was identified by the Spanish Family Business Institute with information on growth strategy, corporate governance, professionalisation, and ownership, that is supported by financial data for the period of 2016–2020. The results showed that, although the differences in terms of profitability were small between generations, there were significant differences in management that affected performance. Growth tended to be lower in the second and subsequent generations, which also h a greater tendency to internationalise, being motivated by the professionalisation of management. Previous works in the literature have analysed differences in profitability between generations, however the analysis in this present work investigated the origin of these differences. The results showed disparities in management that allowed for the obtaining of different profitability indices, and therefore are of practical importance in the management of the internationalisation, growth, and sustainability of the family business in the face of intergenerational succession.

Suggested Citation

  • Jordi Moreno-Gené & José Luis Gallizo, 2021. "Intergenerational Differences in Family Business Management and Their Influence on Business Profitability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-17, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:12:p:6979-:d:579116
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/12/6979/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/12/6979/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lenn Gomes & Kannan Ramaswamy, 1999. "An Empirical Examination of the Form of the Relationship Between Multinationality and Performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 30(1), pages 173-187, March.
    2. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1989. "Management entrenchment : The case of manager-specific investments," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 123-139, November.
    3. Michael Lubatkin & William S. Schulze & N Dino Richard, 2003. "Exploring the agency consequences of ownership dispersion among the directors of private family firms," Post-Print hal-02311676, HAL.
    4. Natalia Martin-Cruz & Ismael Barros Contreras & Juan Hernangómez Barahona & Héctor Pérez Fernández, 2020. "Parents’ Learning Mechanisms for Family Firm Succession: An Empirical Analysis in Spain through the Lens of the Dynamic Capabilities Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-17, October.
    5. 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.
    6. Michael A. Hitt & Beverly B. Tyler, 1991. "Strategic decision models: Integrating different perspectives," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(5), pages 327-351, July.
    7. Thomas F. Cooley & Vincenzo Quadrini, 2001. "Financial Markets and Firm Dynamics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1286-1310, December.
    8. Michael Lubatkin & William S. Schulze & Richard N. Dino, 2003. "Exploring the agency consequences of ownership dispersion among the directors of private family firms," Post-Print hal-02276698, HAL.
    9. Paul J. Woodfield & Kenneth Husted, 2019. "How Does Knowledge Sharing Across Generations Impact Innovation?," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(08), pages 1-17, December.
    10. 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.
    11. Cadbury, Adrian, 2002. "Corporate Governance and Chairmanship: A Personal View," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199252008, Decembrie.
    12. Arosa, Blanca & Iturralde, Txomin & Maseda, Amaia, 2010. "Outsiders on the board of directors and firm performance: Evidence from Spanish non-listed family firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 1(4), pages 236-245, December.
    13. Vincent Molly & Eddy Laveren & Ann Jorissen, 2012. "Intergenerational Differences in Family Firms: Impact on Capital Structure and Growth Behavior," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(4), pages 703-725, 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. Dimitratos, Pavlos & Jones, Marian V., 2005. "Future directions for international entrepreneurship research," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 119-128, April.
    16. David A. Carter & Betty J. Simkins & W. Gary Simpson, 2003. "Corporate Governance, Board Diversity, and Firm Value," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 38(1), pages 33-53, February.
    17. De Clercq, Dirk & Belausteguigoitia, Imanol, 2015. "Intergenerational strategy involvement and family firms’ innovation pursuits: The critical roles of conflict management and social capital," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 178-189.
    18. Villalonga, Belen & Amit, Raphael, 2006. "How do family ownership, control and management affect firm value?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 385-417, May.
    19. Morck, Randall & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1988. "Management ownership and market valuation," Scholarly Articles 29407535, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    20. Daniel Magalhães Mucci & Ann Jorissen & Fabio Frezatti & Diógenes de Souza Bido, 2021. "Managerial Controls in Private Family Firms: The Influence of a Family’s Decision Premises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-21, February.
    21. James J. Chrisman, 2019. "Stewardship Theory: Realism, Relevance, and Family Firm Governance," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(6), pages 1051-1066, November.
    22. Adriana Cioca & Kassam Wehbe & Delia Popescu & Constanta Popescu, 2020. "The Main Drivers for Sustainable Decisions in a Family Business That Impact the Company’s Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-14, October.
    23. Miller, Danny & Steier, Lloyd & Le Breton-Miller, Isabelle, 2003. "Lost in time: intergenerational succession, change, and failure in family business," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 513-531, July.
    24. Roberto Barontini & Lorenzo Caprio, 2006. "The Effect of Family Control on Firm Value and Performance: Evidence from Continental Europe," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 12(5), pages 689-723, November.
    25. Kyuho Jin & Joowon Lee & Sung Min Hong, 2021. "The Dark Side of Managing for the Long Run: Examining When Family Firms Create Value," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-20, March.
    26. 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.
    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. Hauck, Jana & Prügl, Reinhard, 2015. "Innovation activities during intra-family leadership succession in family firms: An empirical study from a socioemotional wealth perspective," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 104-118.
    29. Morck, Randall & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1988. "Management ownership and market valuation : An empirical analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 293-315, January.
    30. Sharma, Pramodita & Chrisman, James J. & Chua, Jess H., 2003. "Predictors of satisfaction with the succession process in family firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 667-687, September.
    31. 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.
    32. Agrawal, Anup & Nagarajan, Nandu J, 1990. "Corporate Capital Structure, Agency Costs, and Ownership Control: The Case of All-Equity Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(4), pages 1325-1331, September.
    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. Ingrid R. Epezagne Assamala & Wenyuan Li & Sheikh Farhan Ashraf & Nausheen Syed & He Di & Mehrab Nazir, 2022. "Mediation-Moderation Model: An Empirical Examination of Sustainable Women Entrepreneurial Performance towards Agricultural SMEs in Ivory Coast," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-21, May.

    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. Audretsch, David B. & Hülsbeck, Marcel & Lehmann, Erik E., 2013. "Families as active monitors of firm performance," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 118-130.
    2. Chan-Jane Lin & Tawei Wang & Chao-Jung Pan, 2016. "Financial reporting quality and investment decisions for family firms," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 499-532, June.
    3. Markin, Erik T. & Skorodziyevskiy, Vitaliy & Zhu, Lina & Chrisman, James J. & Fang, Hanqing “Chevy”, 2022. "Lone-founder firms in China: Replicating Miller et al. (2007) in a different context," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(4).
    4. Suveera Gill & Parmjit Kaur, 2015. "Family Involvement in Business and Financial Performance: A Panel Data Analysis," Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, , vol. 40(4), pages 395-420, December.
    5. 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.
    6. González, Maximiliano & Guzmán, Alexander & Pombo, Carlos & Trujillo, María-Andrea, 2012. "Family firms and financial performance: The cost of growing," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 626-649.
    7. Blanco-Mazagatos, Virginia & de Quevedo-Puente, Esther & Delgado-García, Juan Bautista, 2016. "How agency conflict between family managers and family owners affects performance in wholly family-owned firms: A generational perspective," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 167-177.
    8. Breuer, Wolfgang & Knetsch, Andreas, 2022. "Informal authority and economic outcomes of family firms: An issue of national power distance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    9. González, Maximiliano & Guzmán, Alexander & Pombo, Carlos & Trujillo, María Andréa, 2013. "Corporate governance mechanisms in family firms: Evidence from CEO turnovers," Galeras. Working Papers Series 037, Universidad de Los Andes. Facultad de Administración. School of Management.
    10. Alfonso A. Rojo Ramírez & Maria J. Martínez Romero, 2018. "Required and obtained equity returns in privately held businesses: the impact of family nature—evidence before and after the global economic crisis," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 771-801, July.
    11. De Massis, Alfredo & Kotlar, Josip & Campopiano, Giovanna & Cassia, Lucio, 2013. "Dispersion of family ownership and the performance of small-to-medium size private family firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 166-175.
    12. César Camisón & José Antonio Clemente & Sergio Camisón-Haba, 2022. "Asset tangibility, information asymmetries and intangibles as determinants of family firms leverage," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(7), pages 2047-2082, October.
    13. San Martin-Reyna, J.M. & Duran-Encalada, Jorge A., 2012. "The relationship among family business, corporate governance and firm performance: Evidence from the Mexican stock exchange," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 106-117.
    14. Esra Memili & Kaustav Misra, 2015. "Corporate Governance Provisions, Family Involvement, and Firm Performance in Publicly Traded Family Firms," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-36, July.
    15. Achleitner, Ann-Kristin & Kaserer, Christoph & Kauf, Tobias, 2012. "The dynamics of voting ownership in lone-founder, family-founder, and heir firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 79-96.
    16. Miller, Danny & Le Breton-Miller, Isabelle & Lester, Richard H. & Cannella Jr., Albert A., 2007. "Are family firms really superior performers?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 829-858, December.
    17. Kien S. Nguyen, 2020. "Volatility and Specific Risk Toward Family’s Performance in an Emerging Country," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer;Japanese Association of Financial Economics and Engineering, vol. 27(3), pages 363-386, September.
    18. Danny Miller & Isabelle Le Breton-Miller & Alessandro Minichilli & Guido Corbetta & Daniel Pittino, 2014. "When do Non-Family CEOs Outperform in Family Firms? Agency and Behavioural Agency Perspectives," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(4), pages 547-572, June.
    19. Catuogno, Simona & Arena, Claudia & Cirillo, Alessandro & Pennacchio, Luca, 2018. "Exploring the relation between family ownership and incentive stock options: The contingency of family leadership, board monitoring and financial crisis," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 59-72.
    20. 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.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:12:p:6979-:d:579116. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.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.