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This study sheds light on the contingent effect that employee human capital may have on the relationship between family involvement and internationalisation via exporting —both in terms of entry mode (how to export) and degree (how much to export). We formulate several hypotheses by drawing mainly on arguments from the resource-based view and stewardship theory. The empirical setting is a large sample of Spanish manufacturing firms (family and non-family) operating between 1991 and 2016. Our results reveal that the positive (negative) relationship between family involvement and export intensity (direct exporting) is boosted (mitigated) at higher levels of employee human capital. Our findings thus provide statistical support for a positive and significant contingent approach to the effect human capital has on the connection between family involvement and internationalisation.

This study explores the relationship between exporting strategies, firm efficiency, and downsizing. Drawing on the resource-based view, we first test whether there is a link between export intensity and the propensity of a firm to downsize. Next, we examine the impact of direct/indirect exporting strategies as well as the interactive effects of efficiency and each exporting strategy on the propensity to downsize. We use a sample of Spanish manufacturing firms between 1993 and 2016. Our findings reveal a negative effect of a firm’s level of involvement in foreign markets via exports on the propensity to downsize. Our results also show that the propensity to downsize is lower in firms using a direct export strategy and in more efficient firms opting for this strategy. However, no support for a significant association between the propensity to downsize and the use of an indirect export strategy and efficiency is observed. Financial support is gratefully acknowledged from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Spain) (Reference: ECO2016-76876-R) and Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Spain) (Reference: RTI2018-097447-B-I00).

We examine the effect of combining internal and external R&D loci on innovation performance in family firms (FF) and nonfamily firms (non-FFs). Our longitudinal analysis of 27,438 firm-year observations of Spanish manufacturing firms from 1990 to 2016 shows that FFs can better exploit the benefits of simultaneously engaging in internal and external R&D activities, leading to a positive effect on innovation performance. Moreover, the relationship between combined internal and external R&D and innovation performance in FFs is contingent upon firm economic performance. By pointing to the importance of taking into account the combination of internal and external R&D loci to foster innovation in FFs, we challenge current family business innovation research.

This study seeks to investigate whether family firms are more likely to downsize their workforce than their non‐family counterparts. Drawing on socioemotional wealth approach, we first explore the effect of family presence on workforce downsizing. Furthermore, we examine the moderating role of R&D activity on the family presence–downsizing relationship. Our sample covers a panel of manufacturing SMEs in Spain over the 1993–2014 period. We find that family firms are less likely to downsize than non‐family firms. Our results also reveal a negative association between R&D activity and workforce downsizing. Finally, the relationship between family presence and downsizing is contingent upon R&D activity, that is, family firms engaged in R&D activities are less likely to downsize than non‐innovative family firms.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how family ties in new venture teams (NVTs) influence the intended future growth of a nascent entrepreneur’s business. The authors posit that R&D-oriented entrepreneurs in NVTs with family ties have higher growth intentions relative to those who are less oriented toward R&D. Design/methodology/approach The hypotheses were tested using data from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics II (PSED II). One distinctive feature of the PSED is that it is based on a random sample of 1,214 nascent entrepreneurs in the process of starting new ventures in the USA, which overcomes the recall biases associated with surveying entrepreneurs already in business and potential survivorship biases. Findings The results show that growth intentions in NVTs with family ties is greater when the nascent entrepreneur shows an R&D behavior, even though the presence of family members in the team is negatively related to the intentions of nascent entrepreneurs with regard to new venture growth. This effect is attributed to entrepreneurs’ long-term vision and a more favorable attitude toward change. Research limitations/implications Data on startup teams in the PSED II come from one team member (the respondent). Therefore, differences in perceptions regarding growth intentions cannot be determined. Moreover, the sample consisted exclusively of nascent entrepreneurs in the USA. Practical implications Knowledge about the determinants of growth intentions during the venture creation phase becomes relevant if we want to influence and support the growth of newly founded firms. Nascent entrepreneurs need to understand the trade-off between emotional and financial concerns. Social implications Nascent entrepreneurs more oriented toward R&D become more risk tolerant, and may accept certain losses to their emotional endowment in favor of pure financial goals, being more able to access the additional external resources (tangible and intangible) needed for growth. Originality/value The research expands previous evidence on the family involvement-performance debate in large firms by focusing on new ventures with family ties, with distinctive characteristics that may affect growth intentions. The authors also shed new light on the interplay between family business and entrepreneurship. In particular, the research helps gain an understanding of how NVTs with family ties deal with the opposition between the benefits from venture growth and the tendency to preserve team member’s emotional attachment.

Employee downsizing is a crucial choice that transcends the firm’s boundaries and has profound social implications. While the topic has been on researchers’ agenda for a long time, literature is still looking for a finer understanding of downsizing in family firms, which are the majority of employers worldwide. Using the Socio-Emotional Wealth perspective, this study explores the contingency effect of sales internationalization strategy on the relationship between family firm status and employee downsizing. Based on a large sample of private Spanish firms, our results reveal that the negative effect of family firm status on downsizing is mitigated at higher levels of export intensity, global focus and when export is done directly.

The offshoring phenomenon has evolved in recent years, and can be understood from a threefold perspective: first, the evolution in the type of activity being offshored; second, the learning curve involving both the companies implementing offshoring and service providers; and third, the reasons for offshoring. This study proposes an empirical framework that will allow us to explore the interaction between the type of activity (specifically knowledge-intensive) and the drivers of the decision to select the most appropriate governance mode. Specifically, our results show that market-seeking drivers become the primary determinants prompting firms to offshore knowledge-intensive activities through a captive center. In contrast, the motivation to reduce costs moderates the decision to offshore knowledge-intensive activities by nurturing a preference for offshore outsourcing. The empirical evidence is supported by multi-country data from the Offshoring Research Network. The authors appreciate thefinancial support received from theSpanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through ECO2016-75379-R, the Regional Government of Madrid and European Social Fund through S2015/HUM-3353 (EARLYFIN-CM), the "Carl Schroeder Chair" and the Research Division of IESE Business School, Spain.

This study focuses on family firms’ acquisition propensity. Recognizing that family firms are per se reluctant to acquire, we investigate how the legal system in which such firms operate directly affects their reluctance to undertake acquisitions. Extending previous work on the role of the institutional environment in family firms’ strategic decisions, we also analyze the legal system’s moderating effect in the relationship between family involvement in the business and the probability of acquisitions. Our sample covers family firms from Western European countries with four different legal systems over a nine-year period (2007–2015). We find that family involvement makes family firms more reluctant to undertake acquisitions, and that family firms operating in legal systems with a higher level of shareholder protection are more prone to acquire other businesses. Additionally, our results show that the aversion towards acquisitions associated with family participation in the business is mitigated in countries where shareholders are better protected, thus supporting the view that the legal system moderates the negative impact that family involvement has on acquisition propensity.

While prior literature has focused on whether family firms are more or less inclined to diversification than non-family firms, the examination of differences in diversification among family firms has received much less attention. We analyze how family involvement (in ownership, control, and management) and the generational stage in the company (first versus later generations) influence diversification among family firms. The empirical evidence is provided by a sample of publicly listed family firms from the EU. Our results show that larger levels of family involvement in the firm are associated with lower diversification. Furthermore, first-generation family firms are found to be less diversified than their later-generation counterparts."

The purpose of this study was to analyse the effect that participating in extracurricular sporting activities has on academic performance among students in higher education. Prior research on this topic has yielded contradictory results: while some authors find a positive effect of sports participation on academic outcomes, others report a negative impact. Accordingly, the authors seek to provide a more rounded understanding of these mixed findings. The empirical evidence is provided by a panel dataset of undergraduate students who studied at a Spanish University over the period 2008–2014. The academic performance of sports participants are compared with those of non-participants in terms of their outcomes in the form of grades. Results reveal that participation in formal sporting activities is associated with higher grades among students at this university. The analysis reinforces the idea that apart from their health benefits for practitioners, sporting activities lead to the attainment of the performance goals to which higher education institutions aspire.

Job security is increasingly valued by employees worldwide. This paper examines the effect of family involvement on employment changes over time in different institutional environments. Using an un...

This study explores how the ownership structure of family firms gives these organizations a distinctive nature in terms of international diversification. We argue that the heterogeneity of family firms may cause variations in the degree of international diversification among these types of businesses. We have studied three factors related to ownership structure: the degree of family ownership and the type and degree of ownership of the second largest shareholder (another family or a financial company). The empirical evidence is provided by a sample of European and Asian family firms (2004–2008). Our results show that the degree of family ownership has a negative impact on the degree of international diversification. However, the presence and ownership share of a financial company as the second largest shareholder in a family firm favor this diversification. This study also reveals the importance of the financial company as a second owner in the preference family firms show for growth in international markets.

Although previous literature has focused on managerial compensation differences between family and non-family firms, the examination of differences in the compensation structure of family directors versus their non-family counterparts within family firms has received much less attention. We analyze several contingencies related to directors’ kinship ties to the owning family that may influence directors’ total compensation levels and their incentive compensation in family firms. The empirical evidence is provided by a sample of publicly listed family firms from the United States. Our results show that family-member directors receive a lower share of variable pay and a lower level of total compensation than non-family directors within the same firm. In addition, a high family ownership concentration and a large proportion of family members on the board impact negatively on the use of incentive compensation among board members with kinship ties to the owning family.

While previous literature has extensively shown that foreign-owned firms pay higher wages than domestically owned firms, the examination of intra-industry wage spillovers between foreign-owned and domestic companies has received much less attention, particularly among non-core EU economies. In this paper, we contribute to the literature on wage spillovers of foreign multinational enterprises onto domestic firms by considering whether the presence of MNE subsidiaries in the Spanish manufacturing industry affects wages in domestic firms in the same industry. Although no evidence supports the existence of wage spillovers from MNEs onto domestic firms on aggregate, we show that the effect of this outside presence on domestic wages is significantly more positive in step with the higher level of workers’ skills in domestic firms. Because only workers in domestic firms with a highly skilled workforce will benefit from wage spillovers from the foreign firm presence in the industry, policy makers need bear in mind that not all FDI will automatically generate spillover benefits to domestic firms.

In the present paper, we examine the international scale of new venture’s operations. We argue that several dimensions reflecting entrepreneurial orientation (proactiveness, risk taking and innovativeness) are important determinants of nascent entrepreneur’s entry into foreign markets. We apply logistic regression techniques to a sample of nascent entrepreneurs for the United States and the European Union obtained from the GEM dataset for the period 2001–2008. Our results show that the nascent entrepreneur’s propensity to export is positively associated with both their proactiveness and their new venture’s innovativeness. Our analysis, therefore, implies that when making decisions on export, nascent entrepreneurs’ entrepreneurial orientation affect their willingness to operate beyond national boundaries.

This study analyses the institutional determinants of downsizing in an economy with a highly rigid labour market: Spain. Our focus is first placed on the impact that the system of severance payment has on downsizing adoption. In particular, we analyse whether the regulatory environment can explain variations in employers' downsizing use. In addition, we analyse how organisations imitate one another in implementing downsizing, presumably in a quest for legitimacy. The evidence provided indicates that low levels of severance payments incurred by downsizers in the past promotes downsizing in the present, but too high severance payments discourages downsizing. Therefore, firms in Spain are constrained by regulatory forces stemming from labour law. Our results also reflect the importance of rational myths in downsizing because companies imitate the decisions on downsizing widely used in their industry and, particularly, those adopted by industry leaders.

This paper examines the moderating effect of family involvement in ownership and control on the relationship between diversification strategies – both product and international diversification – and corporate performance. We argue that this moderating effect is related to the distinctive characteristics of family firms compared to non-family firms. The empirical evidence is provided by a sample of firms from the European Union during the 2005–2009 time period. Our results found that family firms are more profitable than non-family firms when they engage in joint product and international diversification.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the joint effect of product and international diversification strategies on the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Spain.Design/methodology/approachThe authors rely on a panel data of small and medium Spanish manufacturing enterprises over the period 1993‐2006, collected from the Spanish Survey of Business Strategies.FindingsThe evidence reveals the existence of a negative relationship between geographic expansion and profitability. Likewise, the adoption of both product and international diversification is not associated with higher performance.Research limitations/implicationsA promising avenue for future research is the analysis of firms located in different countries (for example, emerging economies), or the study of this issue considering factors such as the ownership structure (family firms, the role of the state and banks, etc.).Practical implicationsThe authors' analysis underlines the fact that the distinctive particularities of SMEs – for example, limited resources, lack of previous experience in the adoption of new products and accessing new markets – might constrain diversification as an alternative for firm growth. As a practical implication, Spanish SMEs should overcome their shortcomings before adopting diversification in order to improve the profitability associated with these strategies.Originality/valueAlthough Spain's economic structure is highly segmented and made up of mainly SMEs, research on these companies in this country is rather scarce. In particular, the distinctive characteristics of SMEs mean that diversification might have different performance implications than for larger companies. Moreover, the authors' analysis offers new insights compared to previous research, which has traditionally relied on cross‐section data.

This study examines the impact of family involvement in ownership and control on firms’ R&D intensity, relying on panel data on publicly held firms in Canada over the 2004 to 2009 time period. The literature on the link between family firms and R&D is unclear: although some characteristics may promote R&D intensity in family firms, others factors may have a negative effect. Thus, the authors propose a theoretical framework whereby differences in R&D intensity between family and nonfamily firms are explained based on key conditions, including time horizon, agency costs, resource endowment, or risk-taking behavior. The findings of this study show that publicly traded family firms in Canada record lower R&D intensity compared with nonfamily firms and, therefore, support one side of the previous literature over the other.

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to analyze whether the way that downsizing is implemented has any impact on the firm's performance.Design/methodology/approachThe sample under investigation consists of a set of Spanish companies, which downsized between 1995 and 2001. The paper includes downsizing announcements and combines information from two different datasets (BARATZ and SABI). The focus is placed on the size of downsizing and the use of disengagement incentives.FindingsA negative relationship between the size of downsizing and post‐downsizing corporate performance is found. In particular, firms which announced severe downsizing experience relatively lower performance in the year following the announcement.Originality/valueThe analysis advances organizational research by reinforcing the concept that firm performance is not only contingent on strategies, but also influenced by the means through which these strategies are implemented.

We analyze whether the relationship between corporate environmental performance (CEP) and corporate financial performance (CFP) differs between family and nonfamily firms. Using a dataset of Europe...

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to analyze the organizational change in 100 of the largest Spanish firms (a new national context) over the period 1993‐2003 (a more recent time period).Design/methodology/approachTo achieve this purpose, consideration has been given to both traditional organizational categories and new organizational forms, such as cooperative multidivisional, competitive multidivisional, and the internal network. Detailed definitions of the new organizational forms being developed by companies are provided in the paper. Thus, these new organizational forms may differ in several aspects, such as the decision‐making process and integration between divisions.FindingsThe results show that over this period, Spanish firms experienced a steadily rising trend towards divisionalization. The cooperative multidivisional structure is the one most frequently adopted in Spain, as opposed to the competitive multidivisional form and the internal network.Originality/valueThe systematic study of the distinctive attributes of the new forms of organization, providing accumulated knowledge, is in an emergent phase of development in the international field, and this work seeks to contribute to such development. The nature of the study strengthens the global implications of the work, and the information obtained from top practitioners in these Spanish firms enhances the contribution of the study.

We analyze the effects of skills of employees on innovation of subsidiaries of foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) and domestic firms competing in the same country. In contrast to previous stu...