PurposeThe purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the roots of family firms' competitive advantages by defining and testing the familiness learning mechanisms that emerge from the interaction between family and firm. Because family members are economically, emotionally and socially attached to the firm, family firms are expected to be able to develop unique and difficult to imitate learning mechanisms related to family firm value creation.Design/methodology/approachThis study operationalizes and tests the concept of the familiness learning mechanism using a sample of nonlisted Spanish family firms. The sample is analyzed using the structural equation modeling method.FindingsResults show that family firms' ability to accumulate internal and external knowledge, integrate social knowledge, as well as create and retain socioemotional knowledge forms the concept of the familiness learning mechanism, and the authors show what implications it might have for family firm value creation.Originality/valueBy using the dynamic capabilities approach, this article highlights the importance of the knowledge and learning derived from family involvement in the firm. The creation of learning mechanisms occurs because of the close relationships between family members and their simultaneous participation in the family and in the company systems, which creates a unique context wherein knowledge and learning emerge in an idiosyncratic manner.
While prior studies recognize the importance of organizational capabilities for family firm sustainability, current research has still failed to empirically identify the role of different types of knowledge accumulation with regard to these organizational capabilities. Based on the dynamic capabilities theory, the main goal of this paper is to address this research gap and to explore the relationships between both internal and external knowledge accumulation, and ordinary organizational capabilities. This research also contributes to analyzing the complex effect of the family firm essence, influenced by both family involvement and generational involvement levels, as an antecedent of internal and external knowledge accumulation. Our analysis of 102 non-listed Spanish family firms shows that the family firm essence, which is influenced by the family involvement, strengthens only the internal knowledge accumulation but not the external one. Furthermore, our study also reveals that both internal and knowledge accumulation are positively related to ordinary capabilities.
The special features displayed by family firms characterize and shape their family social capital and make them unique. The participation of both the family and the firm creates distinctive resources and capabilities in the family firm. As new generations arrive, opposing forces begin to shake the firm, and while some embrace change others expect the continuity of the family influence. Likewise, the influence of the family in the firm conditions its performance. In this study, we empirically address how family influence promotes the development of family social capital that, in turn, impacts on the organizational effectiveness of family firms. Furthermore, we observe the moderating role of generational involvement by considering generations an important source of heterogeneity in family firms. We test the hypotheses on a sample of Spanish family firms, analyzing the data using partial least squares (PLS). Results indicate that the family influence positively affects the development of family social capital and, therefore, the organizational effectiveness of the family firm. However, generational involvement can moderate both relationships in a negative way, by reducing the development and exploitation of the family social capital.
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