Family Involvement in the Firm and Exports in the Family SME: Is the Manager’s International Orientation Influential?

Abstract

Does the family involvement affect exports in the family firm? The literature seems to support this view even if the direction and magnitude of this impact remains controversial. Drawing on the perspectives of agency [Chrisman et al. 2004;Schulze et al. 2001] and stewardship as applied to family firms [Davis, Schoorman and Donaldson 1997] and also on socio-emotional wealth perspective [Gómez-Mejía et al. 2007], this study seeks to contribute to this debate by studying the influence of family involvement on the SME exports intensity. To reconcile the divergent views, our research attempts to assess the role of the manager's international orientation as a variable moderating the relationship between family involvement and exports in SMEs. Based on a hypotheticaldeductive approach, the study uses a sample data of 125 family SMEs obtained through a questionnaire. The results show that even if the positive influence of the manager's international orientation is corroborated, its moderating role seems to be limited to only one facet of the construct of family involvement i.e. involvement in management. Moreover, owning-family involvement in management seems to negatively influence exports while some results argue for a positive effect of the family involvement in ownership on exports.

Determinants of Export Intensity among Small and Medium-sized firms: An empirical study based on the heterogeneity of their resources

“…For instance, building foreign partner relationships could be difficult due to the cultural differences (Ojala, 2015). SME managers are usually reluctant to lose control of the firm's operations (Basly, 2015). Although maintaining control can lower a firm's export intensity (Cerrato & Piva, 2010), some SMEs prefer to keep more control over export operations (e.g., by seeking local vehicles to foster exports such as promotion agencies or subsidies).…”

“…The scope of export operations and the levels of export intensity achieved by SMEs appear to be determined by the availability of resources to deal with international markets (e.g., Dhanaraj & Beamish, 2003) However, SMEs are typically resourceconstrained, an aspect that characterizes them and may reduce their capacity to export (Achtenhagen, 2011;Suárez-Ortega & Álamo-Vera, 2005). Besides, exporting is considered as a challenging (Calabrò, Mussolino, & Huse, 2009) and risky activity for this type of firms (Basly, 2015).…”

Managers’ intentions to pursue export expansion an entrepreneurial cognition perspective

“…Exporting entails complexity (Basly, 2015) and risk (Krauss, 2017). It is a challenging task particularly for SMEs (Calabrò et al, 2009).…”

“…Foreign sales usually present sharp peaks and slumps (Majocchi et al, 2005). Exporting is regarded as a risky activity (Basly, 2015;Kuivalainen et al, 2013) and apparently more challenging for SMEs due to internal resource constraints that may limit their capacity to expand abroad (Achtenhagen, 2011;Su arez-Ortega and Álamo-Vera, 2005).…”

Formalising human resource practices in family-owned accommodation Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs): Integrating owner-manager’s personal characteristics with aspects of the UTAUT model

“…However, given the multiplicity of managerial functions, the owner-manager is expected to fulfill, in most instances, the management of HR in family-owned SMEs is done informally as this is amenable with the competence of the owner-manager who in most instances is not an HR expert (Dundon & Wilkinson, 2018). Basly (2015) admitted to this analysis and reported that in family-owned SMEs, the family may try to keep the HR function under the control of the owner-manager who in most instances will lack expertise in HR management. This state of affairs according to Herrero (2017) may lead to the perception that such formalisation leads to complex managerial practices that may compel the owner-manager to reconsider any formalisation overtures.…”