Family multinationals: a systematic literature review to take stock and look ahead

Abstract

PurposeThe authors develop a systematic literature review of research on family multinationals, i.e. firms owned by one or more families that engage in foreign direct investments (FDIs). Building on the examination of past and current research, the authors develop an integrative framework and identify directions to advance this area of research.Design/methodology/approachCoherently with recommendations for systematic literature reviews, the authors developed and followed a systematic search protocol, selecting and reviewing 92 articles on family multinationals published from 1991 to 2021. The authors then identified the most recurrent and emerging themes in these studies to build an integrative framework.FindingsIn recent years, the literature on family firm internationalization has grown exponentially, and with it the focus on family multinationals. However, the study of family multinationals has many theoretical and methodological shortcomings that have only allowed marginally appreciating their entrepreneurial aspects. In this study, the authors take stock to identify the critical knowledge gaps and motivate future researchers to fill this breach.Originality/valueIn conducting the first systematic literature review of family multinationals, the authors provide an integrative account of current knowledge, develop a reconciling framework and identify directions for future research.

Ownership, governance, and internationalization in family firms: a replication and extension

“…Importantly, while our dependent variable is called the same as in Sciascia et al (2012) (see footnote 1), we do not agree with labeling it "international entrepreneurship." In fact, recent studies (e.g., Rondi et al, 2022) highlight that international entrepreneurship involves the discovery, enactment, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities across national borders, tasks that are not adequately captured with foreign sales but measures that reflect entry modes involving equity (i.e., FDIs).…”

“…The family firm (FF) internationalization literature has advanced considerably in recent years. In particular, recent studies show that the increasing interest from scholars in various fields has more than doubled the FF internationalization literature in the last decade (Arregle et al, 2021;Debellis et al, 2021b;Rondi et al, 2022). Unfortunately, very little research has been dedicated to replicating the results of past scientific work, thus contributing to what entrepreneurship and international business scholars call the "replication crisis" (Aguinis et al, 2017).…”

Family firms and international equity-based entry modes: a systematic literature review

“…This would not only add empirical validation and rule out a potential source of endogeneity but also enrich the theoretical investigation. For instance, promising contributions are likely to emerge from a closer look at interconnections between entry modes and their evolution over time (Rondi et al , 2022). Besides, a better understanding of the internal and external contingency factors which push family members to switch from one entry mode to another represent a potential path of research still in its infancy (Pongelli et al , 2021).…”

“…Our review highlights that much of previous research has been conducted at the firm level. While this is undoubtedly valuable, a focus on the individual level could expand prior knowledge and provide new insights (Rondi et al , 2022). In fact, an intriguing yet unexplored research subject might pertain to how the cognition of family members influences the owning family’s international aspirations about entry modes.…”

“…Family members emotionally bounded to the firm and the strategic decisions about entering foreign target markets also rely on family-related considerations strongly (Arregle et al, 2021;Kano and Verbeke, 2018;Agnihotri and Bhattacharya, 2022). This is true when FFs embark on export activities (S anchez-Marín et al, 2020;Merino et al, 2015) but becomes increasingly crucial when internationalization entails equity-based decisions because of the higher commitment at stake (Stoian et al, 2018;Bruno et al, 2018). Although a default preference for a given equity-based entry mode is not always predictable because of the occurrence of internal and contextual factors, family decision-makers are deemed to adopt choices that minimize various risks, especially with respect to the risk of dissipating their socioemotional endowment (Del Bosco and Bettinelli, 2020;Pongelli et al, 2021).…”