Family involvement and Spanish hotel chains’ entry modes abroad

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between family involvement and entry mode choice by Spanish hotel chains in foreign markets. Drawing on stewardship and institutional theories, we examine how family character may moderate the effect of institutional differences on the choice of entry modes entailing different levels of resource commitment and control over international activities. Using a sample of 981 hotels established abroad by 76 Spanish hotel chains, the results show that family involvement is associated with entry modes involving greater control and resource commitment. Moreover, family involvement moderates the relationship between both formal and informal institutional distance and entry mode choice. Specifically, when both distances are high, family involvement increases the likelihood of choosing entry modes involving higher control and resource commitment.

Unraveling the role of governance mechanisms in online ratings: The case of Spanish chain-affiliated hotels

“…As in other industries (Stigler, 1951), the growth of the hotel industry tends to specialize resources such as brands, knowledge, facilities, and workforce, which also forces the emergence of new governance mechanisms (Williamson, 1985(Williamson, , 1991. As a result, the hotel industry stands out because its larger companies (hotel chains) today display a wide variety of mechanisms for operating hotels (Andreu et al, 2019;Contractor & Kundu, 1998;Dahlstrom et al, 2009;Kruesi et al, 2018;Li & Singal, 2019). Recent reports about the most touristic areas (i.e., North America (Collins & Perret, 2015), Europe (Horwath HTL, 2019) and Spain (Loeda, 2020), point to chain-owned, leased, managed, and franchised hotels as the prevalent mechanisms of governance (Table 1).…”

“…However, little research has been conducted on the role played by hotel governance mechanisms as an antecedent of this key performance indicator (online reviews). This is an important gap in the literature (Cantallops & Salvi, 2014; Field et al, 2018; Kosová & Lafontaine, 2012), especially considering that the hotel sector displays a large variety of mechanisms of governance, ranging from chain-owned hotels to hybrid structures such as management and franchise contracts (e.g., Andreu et al, 2019; Contractor & Kundu, 1998; Dahlstrom et al, 2009; Kruesi et al, 2018; Li & Singal, 2019), which can influence corporate functioning and performance very differently.…”

The Role of Family Firms Heterogeneity on the Internationalisation and Performance Relationship

“…In FFs, the socioemotional-wealth (SEW) theory has studied this area of research and it points out that this kind of firms could be less internationalised. Even though an increasing number of studies have dealt with different aspects of the internationalisation process in the context of FFs, such as their propensity to international growth (Calabrò et al, 2017;Pukall & Calabró, 2014), the entry mode choice (Andreu et al, 2020;Boellis et al, 2016;Mariotti et al, 2021;Yamanoi & Asaba, 2018), or the influence of firm's capabilities (Alayo et al, 2021;Hernández-Perlines, 2018), few studies have carried out an in-depth analysis of the relationship between international activity and performance considering different aspects of family involvement, being one of the main topics that needs a further attention (Kim & Gao, 2013). Therefore, more studies are needed on the relationship between internationalisation and performance in FFs.…”

“…The Spanish hotel sector enjoys great recognition on the international scene (Martorell et al, 2016). In last decades, this sector has reached a high level of internationalisation by growing the number of hotels abroad (Andreu et al, 2020;Brida et al, 2015). In relation to the internationalisation strategy, one of the most researched topics has been the choice of entry mode, since this sector has certain peculiarities, such as the use of management contracts, franchising or leasing agreements (Contractor & Kundu, 1998).…”

“…In relation to the internationalisation strategy, one of the most researched topics has been the choice of entry mode, since this sector has certain peculiarities, such as the use of management contracts, franchising or leasing agreements (Contractor & Kundu, 1998). Moreover, the Spanish hotel industry is characterized by a high percentage of FFs (Andreu, et al, 2018(Andreu, et al, , 2020. However, little is known about the influence of family character on international strategies of these firms.…”