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What Can Scholars of Entrepreneurship Learn from Sound Family Businesses?

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  • Danny Miller
  • Lloyd Steier
  • Isabelle Le Breton–Miller

Abstract

Scholars of entrepreneurship have focused mostly on founder entrepreneurs, new ventures, venture capital, and entrepreneurial initiatives in larger firms. However, family firms, which account for a majority of new ventures, have received far less prominent attention from the field. Although family businesses, often rightly, have been portrayed as being conservative and even stodgy, many of them are successful and enduring, and enjoy advantages in the business founding, growth, and maturity phases of the life cycle. We discuss the resources that may be responsible for these advantages in successful family firms, and the lessons that may be drawn from such firms for quintessential topics in entrepreneurship such as effectuation, new ventures, venture capital, opportunity platforms, and entrepreneurial orientation.

Suggested Citation

  • Danny Miller & Lloyd Steier & Isabelle Le Breton–Miller, 2016. "What Can Scholars of Entrepreneurship Learn from Sound Family Businesses?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(3), pages 445-455, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:40:y:2016:i:3:p:445-455
    DOI: 10.1111/etap.12231
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Bingbing Ge & Alfredo De Massis & Josip Kotlar, 2022. "Mining the Past: History Scripting Strategies and Competitive Advantage in a Family Business," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(1), pages 223-251, January.
    2. Miruna Radu-Lefebvre & James Davis & William Gartner, 2024. "Legacy in Family Business: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agenda," Post-Print hal-04515862, HAL.
    3. Mangiò, Federico & Mismetti, Marco & Lissana, Elena & Andreini, Daniela, 2023. "That's the Press, Baby! How journalists co-create family business brands meanings: A mixed method analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    4. Peter J. Baldacchino & Annette Gauci & Simon Grima, 2019. "Family Influence in Maltese Listed Companies: The Implications on Corporate Governance," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(1), pages 85-112.
    5. Ms A.W.G.N.M. Abeyrathna & Dr M.A.S. Wijesinghe, 2020. "The Importance of Spatial Factors for Entrepreneurial Orientation of Rural Entrepreneurs: A Critical Review," International Journal of Innovation and Economic Development, Inovatus Services Ltd., vol. 6(3), pages 20-28, August.
    6. Belitski, Maksim & Rejeb, Nada, 2022. "Does open customer innovation model hold for family firms?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 334-346.
    7. Lisa Jones Christensen & Arielle Badger Newman & Heidi Herrick & Paul Godfrey, 2020. "Separate but not equal: Toward a nomological net for migrants and migrant entrepreneurship," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 3(1), pages 1-22, March.
    8. Pollack, Jeffrey M. & Barr, Steve & Hanson, Sheila, 2017. "New venture creation as establishing stakeholder relationships: A trust-based perspective," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 7(C), pages 15-20.
    9. Zulfiquer Ali Haider & Jialong Li & Yefeng Wang & Zhenyu Wu, 2021. "Do Family Firms Have Higher or Lower Deal Valuations? A Contextual Analysis," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(4), pages 709-739, July.
    10. Rukudzo Pamacheche & Richard Chinomona & Tinashe Chuchu, 2016. "Management's Commitment, Education and Ethics on Organisational Entrepreneurship: The Case of South African Non-Profit Organisations," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 8(4), pages 133-143.
    11. Christina Guenther & Maksim Belitski & Nada Rejeb, 2023. "Overcoming the ability-willingness paradox in small family firms’ collaborations," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(4), pages 1409-1429, April.
    12. Dalong Ma & E. Shaunn Mattingly & Trayan N. Kushev & Manju K. Ahuja & Andrew S. Manikas, 2019. "Persistence Decisions: It’s Not Just About the Money," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 28(1), pages 121-143, March.
    13. Bing Song & Armin Schwienbacher, 2024. "How Do Family Founders Help Novice Entrepreneurs to Develop their Firms?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 63(2), pages 781-804, August.
    14. Kun Liu & Kun Fu & Jing Yu Yang & Ahmad Al Asady, 2023. "A System Justification Theory of Entrepreneurial Attitudinal Change During a Crisis," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(3), pages 893-923, May.
    15. Gema García-Piqueres & Ana-M. Serrano-Bedia & Marta Pérez-Pérez, 2019. "Knowledge Management Practices and Innovation Outcomes: The Moderating Role of Risk-Taking and Proactiveness," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-22, September.
    16. Massimo Baù & Francesco Chirico & Daniel Pittino & Mikaela Backman & Johan Klaesson, 2019. "Roots to Grow: Family Firms and Local Embeddedness in Rural and Urban Contexts," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(2), pages 360-385, March.
    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. Feifei Lu & Ho Kwong Kwan & Bin Ma, 2022. "Carry the past into the future: the effects of CEO temporal focus on succession planning in family firms," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 763-804, June.
    19. Tommaso Minola & Nadine Kammerlander & Franz W. Kellermanns & Frank Hoy, 2021. "Corporate Entrepreneurship and Family Business: Learning Across Domains," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 1-26, January.

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