Entrepreneurial Exploration and Exploitation in Family Business

Abstract

In entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial exploration and exploitation have been considered central activities for the survival, growth, and renewal of businesses. In this review we systematically examine research on these topics in family business. Our review comprises 59 publications examining exploration and/or exploitation in family firms published between 2001 and 2015 in 32 publications. The article highlights the contributions of family business in this area and reveals additional areas where a stronger connection between these concepts and the family business field could be developed. We suggest several new research directions that may enhance the understanding of these entrepreneurial activities in family business.

The effect of entrepreneurial orientation on Bangladeshi SME performance: Role of organizational culture

“…Since the 1980s, organizational behavioral studies have emphasized the key position of OC for firm's competitive advantage and development (Cameron & Quinn, 2006;Fiol, 1991). OC acts a starring role of a prospective antecedent that could hamper or encourage the pursuit of entrepreneurial actions as well as to determine organizational success (Goel & Jones, 2016;Fletcher et al, 2012;Chirico & Nordqvist, 2010). Not only has the EO and OC been connected to the decision-making activity of SMEs (Mitchell et al, 2000) and Lumpkin & Dess (1996) claimed that EO affects OC but also OC affects EO which influences the behavior of individuals within organizations and is particularly relevant to entrepreneurship, since main decision originators perform as the intellect of the SME and administer the overall strategic orientation of the organization.…”

Researching at the Intersection of Family Business and Entrepreneurship

“…Although there are many research opportunities at the intersection of the entrepreneurship and family business fields (see Goel & Jones, 2016;Kellermanns & Eddleston, 2006;Zellweger, Kellermanns, Chrisman, & Chua, 2012), in this chapter, we offered three potential future areas that we believe can considerably advance both fields by combining and blending constructs and relationships specific to one field with those of the other field.…”

Family Involvement and Sustainable Family Business: Analysing Their Effects on Diversification Strategies

“…According to [22], there is a means-end relationship between entrepreneurship activities and family business. Entrepreneurship represents a mean for the family firm to achieve the end of sustainability and long-term survival [22].…”

“…According to [22], there is a means-end relationship between entrepreneurship activities and family business. Entrepreneurship represents a mean for the family firm to achieve the end of sustainability and long-term survival [22]. While diversification may be seen as a road to avoid risk when compared to the situation when the whole business is focused on one activity [12], many entrepreneurial activities fail or take several years to be profitable; therefore it may also bring about a high dose of risk in the sense that it requires raising additional capital and there is uncertainty about the potential success of the new activity, particularly if the manager does not have the abilities and the knowledge necessary to carry out the new activity.…”