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Purpose: This paper highlights the need for future studies researching the subject of resilience in family firms on different levels. Design/methodology/approach: This paper reviews the literature on resilience in family businesses. Findings: Resilience has become more important due to the recent multiple crises, starting with the coronavirus pandemic, followed by high inflation and energy prices, partly resulting from the war in Ukraine. These multiple crises affect the family and the business level. Future research must account for multiple levels when addressing it, i.e. the individual, the team, the family, and the business level. Resilience has to encompass all levels to sustain family business continuity. Originality/value: By giving an overview of the concept of resilience, taking the family's perspective, and suggesting future avenues of research, the paper contributes to the development of family business research., CC BY 4.0 © 2023, Börje Boers, Anders Billström and Danilo Brozović.Article publication date: 10 January 2024Correspondence Address: B. Boers; School of Business, University of Skövde, Skövde, Sweden; email: borje.boers@his.seThe authors acknowledge funding from The Kamprad Family Foundation for Entrepreneurship, Research and Charity no. 20220044.

The article compares family small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from Germany and Sweden with a large family company in their work on corporate social responsibility and sustainability. This study aims to understand how and why (small) family firms work with sustainability. In total, 14 interviews were conducted with family firms in different industries. Large family companies are a benchmark, as they have worked with these questions since 2000. However, family SMEs also work with these issues. It is the family owner-managers who actively work with these questions. Accordingly, findings are of relevance for family firms and their managers, working with sustainability., CC BY 4.0Taylor & Francis Group an informa businessCONTACT Börje Boers Borje.boers@his.se School of Business, University of Skövde, Högskolevägen, Box 408,Skövde SE-541 28, Sweden

The authors of this study aimed to investigate the issue of resilience in family firms during times of crisis. They recognize that a crisis can impact not only the business itself but also the family dynamics within the firm. To be resilient, addressing and managing both aspects is crucial. Resilience in this context refers to the ability of family firms to adapt, recover, and thrive in the face of adversity. The authors emphasise that resilience involves navigating and responding to multiple events that may arise from various sources, including the external environment, the business operations, or the internal family dynamics. This complexity adds to the challenges and demands of family firms to be resilient. The study adopts a qualitative approach, employing case studies of German and Swedish family firms to gain deeper insights into this topic. By examining real-life examples, the authors seek to provide empirical evidence and a nuanced understanding of how family firms experience and cope with crises. The findings of this research have significant relevance for multiple stakeholders. Firstly, family business owners and leaders can benefit from insights into the challenges they may face during crises and the strategies they can employ to enhance resilience. Understanding the interplay between family and business dynamics is crucial for effective crisis management. Additionally, policymakers and advisors working with family firms can gain valuable knowledge from this study. By recognizing the unique challenges these firms face during crises, they can develop targeted support mechanisms and resources to assist them in building resilience. Overall, this research sheds light on the complex nature of crisis resilience in family firms and contributes to the existing body of knowledge in this field. It provides practical implications and recommendations for family firms, policymakers, and advisors, ultimately aiming to enhance the long-term sustainability and success of, © 2024 Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Part of Springer Nature.

Denna rapport redovisar resultaten av en studie som genomfördes av Anders Billström, Börje Boers och Danilo Brozović inom ramen för Campus Varbergs satsning Efterfrågad forskning under 2022. Studien fokuserar på kundperspektiv på e-handel gentemot handel i fysiska butiker med fokus på lokala butiker i Varberg. Studien avslutas med rekommendationer för Campus Varberg, praktiker och vidare forskning.

Purpose This article aims to increase the understanding of the role of individual actors and arenas in dealing with multiple institutional logics in family firms.Design/methodology/approachThis study follows a case-study approach of two family-owned newspaper companies. Based on interviews and secondary sources, the empirical material was analysed focussing on three institutional logics, that is, family logic, management logic and journalistic logic. Findings First, the authors show how and in which arenas competing logics are balanced in family-owned newspaper companies. Second, the authors highlight that family owners are central actors in the process of balancing different institutional logics. Further, they analyse how family members can become hybrid owner-managers, meaning that they have access to all institutional logics and become central actors in the balancing process. Originality/value The authors reveal how multiple institutional logics are balanced in family firms by including formal actors and arenas as additional lenses. Therefore, owning family members, especially hybrid owner-managers, are the best-suited individual actors to balance competing logics. Hybrid owner-managers are members of the owner families who are also skilled in one or several professions., CC BY 4.0Börje Boers is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: borje.boers@his.seArticle publication date: 21 December

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to understand venture capital family businesses (VCFBs) governance of portfolio companies through the deal process. Design/methodology/approach – This study applies a theory-developing approach. A model of VCFB governance is developed whose key aspects are illuminated by four examples (cases) of VCFBs. Findings – Recent research suggests that a venture capital firm’s corporate deal processes can be divided intothe pre-deal, deal and post-deal phases. Based on the age, size and succession dimensions, propositions for how a governance trajectory develops for VCFBs, affecting the deal process of target family firms (TFFs), are presented. These propositions highlight how the family owners’ actions and behavior are related to VCFB governance, which in turn, influences the three phases involved in making an investment. Originality/value – The propositions suggest how personal and administrative VCFBs’ governance of the deal process of portfolio companies is significantly affected by centrifugal and centripetal forces that drive the respective types of governance where third-generation family owners appear as changers of governance approach., CC BY 4.0Article publication date: 14 December 2021Torbjörn Ljungkvist is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: torbjorn.ljungkvist@his.se

The purpose of this chapter is to understand social innovation in small family firms in Sweden. The study draws on three Swedish small family firms, exemplifying different types of innovation in these firms. Examples range from incremental innovations to social innovations, illustrating the diversity of innovation in small family firms. These innovations are conceptualized as a continuum of innovations, which is depending on the degree of involvement of owner-managers on the one hand and the degree of involvement of employees on the other hand.

Purpose: This article investigates how strategic flexibility (SF) is achieved in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), exploring whether SF contributes to firm growth and the associated enablers and barriers of SF. Design/methodology/approach: To offer a more nuanced view of SF in SMEs, a qualitative approach is applied. Researchers conducted and analyzed 91 interviews with owners and chief executive officers (CEOs) of SMEs exhibiting high growth and explored whether SF contributes to firm growth and the associated enablers and barriers of SF. Findings: The results show a connection between SF and firm growth and confirm the importance of strategic orientation for SF in SMEs. Contrary to the existing literature, this study found a neutral impact of external networks and a positive impact of slack resources on SF. The lack of competent employees emerged as a considerable barrier to SF in SMEs. Research limitations/implications: More research focusing on the relationship between SF and firm growth is suggested, as well as further research about the relevance of slack resources and external networks as enablers of SF in SMEs. Practical implications: Motivating and developing valuable employee competence are the key managerial implications. Additionally, business consultants and business developers in the public sector must find ways to increase business consultants and business developers' relevance to SMEs. Originality/value: This article explores SF in SMEs, a context of disagreement in previous literature, and finds that SF contributes to SME growth. A qualitative approach is used, enrichening a field dominated by quantitative methodological choices., CC BY 4.0© 2023, Danilo Brozović, Christian Jansson and Börje Boers.Article publication date: 28 February 2023Danilo Brozovic is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: danilo.brozovic@his.seThis research was funded by the European Regional Development Fund, Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, Skaraborg Association of Local Authorities (Skaraborgs Kommunalförbund), Savings Bank Foundation Skaraborg (Sparbankstiftelsen Skaraborg) and Savings Bank Foundation Lidköping (Sparbankstiftelsen Lidköping). The authors wish to thank the funders for the generous donations which made this study possible.

Die vorliegende Studie widmet sich der Analyse der entscheidenden Rolle von Communities of Practice (CoPs) als Instrumente desWissensaustauschs in familiengeführten Klein- und Mittelunternehmen (KMUs), insbesondere wenn sowohl Familienmitglieder als auch externe Fachkräfte gemeinsam an diesen Communities teilnehmen. Durch die Anwendung einer umfassenden Multi-Fall-studie über einen Zeitraum von acht Jahren wurden sechs kleine Unternehmen aus unterschiedlichen Branchen und verschiedenen Ländern einer Untersuchung unterzogen.

Purpose – this study explores how retail family firm managers’ cognitive capabilities are used to enabling firm strategy to encounter economic decline. Design/methodology/approach – the paper is based on an inductive case study and consists of 30 interviews with retail family firm managers. Findings – the results suggest how managerial cognitive enabling mechanisms shape the manifestation of retail family firm dynamic capabilities (DC) configurations. Originality – three retail managerial cognitive strategic enabling mechanisms and microfoundations are identified, which in turn explain how the following retail family firm DC configurations are shaped: (1) retail family firm customization-based sensing, (2) retail family firm lateral seizing and (3) retail family firm trust-based reconfiguring. The manifestation of these DC configurations illuminate how retail family firm manager enabling firm strategy to encounter economic decline.

Denna rapport redovisar resultaten av en studie som genomfördes av Börje Boers och Danilo Brozovic i ramen för Campus Varbergs satsning efterfrågad forskning under 2021. Studien fokuserar på organisatorisk resiliens av Campus Varbergs partnerbutiker under Corona-pandemin. Studien slutar med rekommendationer för Campus Varberg, praktiker och vidare forskning., Vi tackar Sparbanksstiftelsen i Varberg för stipendier som gjorde detta forskningsprojekt möjligt. Vi vill också uttrycka vår stora tacksamhet mot Maria Gustafsson, Tomas Rasmussen och Carmen Mangas Hernandez från Campus Varberg. Speciellt Carmen hjälpte med många praktiska åtgärder. Ett stort tack också till Thomas Andersson, som ställde upp som oavlönad resurs i projektet. Slutligen tackar vi alla respondenter som ställde upp och därmed hjälpte att samla in den empirin som ingår i denna rapport.

Purpose: This paper strives to understand the role of resource orchestration (RO) in the rapid growth of high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach: Based on a comparative case study, RO is compared between a high-tech family firm and a high-tech non-family firm. To capture the complexity of RO, this study applies a longitudinal approach using a large volume of archival and interview data gathered over ten years. Findings: The configuration of family-firm paradoxical growth-oriented RO emphasizes RO based on collectivism and responsibility, although relying on large-scale conforming normative control. In contrast, the configuration of non-family-firm growth-oriented RO emphasizes administrative-based delegation and management-supported value creation. Originality/value: By suggesting ownership-based RO configurations, this study provides insights into how ownership types, i.e. family firms and non-family firms, affect RO in firms operating in complex and dynamic environments. These configurations explain how and why RO is arranged in a growth context., CC BY 4.0Torbjörn Ljungkvist is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: torbjorn.ljungkvist@his.seArticle publication date: 7 January 2022

The aim of this exploratory study is to research individual and cultural strategies of learning from failure amongst German, Indian and Swedish university students. Our research provides (1) a framework of typal similarities of failure learning within the national cultures of Germany, India and Sweden, as well as (2) understanding of cultural effects on failure learning and (3) insights for entrepreneurship educators to develop programs that steer discussions and reflections on the event of failure as a likely part of the entrepreneurial process. Thus, this research provides a new brick of understanding as our results show that both culture-based strategies as well as culturally independent typical subjectivities in learning from failure exist for the three nations Germany, India and Sweden. The defined typologies can broaden our understanding of learning from failure at an intermediate level, bridging the gap between cultural and individual factors. Furthermore, our paper showcases the suitability of Q methodology to bring to front individual beliefs as well as group-specific opinions in higher education by discussing the methodological capabilities and challenges as experienced during our study., CC BY 4.0Corresponding author: E-mail address: borje.boers@his.se (B. Boers).

The purpose of this paper is to explore and understand how family firms manage a crisis by applying a processual perspective addressing the different phases of a crisis, including its origin, context and consequences. Drawing on a study of six family firms, we find that the leadership of the owning family signifies crisis management in family firms. Also, family firms rely on multiple crisis management practices and make use of their relationships and networks, which support crisis management at different stages. Socioemotional wealth can be both a trigger and a consequence of crisis management procedures. This study contributes to the literature by providing a more nuanced and developed crisis management model that accounts for the peculiarities of family firms. We argue that it is of the greatest importance to consider the consequences of a crisis whose origin stems from the owning family. In particular, such crises will trigger the owning family, as their socioemotional endowment would be at risk, which can free family resources for crisis management practices.

The purpose of this study is to understand turnaround strategies in family firms from a so-cioemotional wealth (SEW) perspective. This study follows a case study approach with four family firms, one from Germany, one from Scotland, and two from Sweden. Data collection builds on combining interviews with data collected from annual reports, homepages, and press clips. First, we contribute to the understanding of turnaround strategies in private family firms. Moreover, the SEW perspective offers new insights into how owning families prioritize the different turnaround strategies in relation to the SEW dimensions. Finally, our study also helps further an understanding of how owning families prioritize the SEW dimensions, by drawing on mixed gambles. These findings are used to develop a framework for explaining how SEW influences organizational decline and turnaround in private family firms. Finally, we develop propositions that future research could consider.

In this chapter, we discuss and analyse how family SMEs can prepare for crises originating in different areas. In specific, we discuss how family SMEs can prepare for crises originating in the family, the firm and the environment. There is an overlap in family SMEs, which implies that it is necessary to account for all three areas in a crisis situation. All three dimensions can be the origin for a crisis and part of a solution to handling the crisis. In the following, we discuss each dimension in detail with regard to crisis management in family SMEs. The study offers advice for family SMEs facing a crisis situation caused by internal causes, business or family-induced. Family SMEs should prepare themselves well in advance—with crisis management—to face severe shocks, and not just react under stress. This leads to a more proactive crisis management approach., Springer, ChamCopyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022

This paper compares and distinguishes different devices, which family owners use to manage and develop their wealth over time. The paper addresses similarities and differences and states research questions for future development.

This paper explores how family influences the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) process in immigrant family business. To fulfill the purpose, we employ inductive multiple case studies using fifty-six in-depth interviews. We rely on seven cases of immigrant entrepreneurs of Chinese, Icelandic, Turkish, Cameroonian, Mexican and Libanese who established firms in Sweden. Our results suggest that EO development trajectories vary in regard to first and second generation immigrant entrepreneurs, low and high-tech sectors and host and home contries. Thus, family dynamics facilitates the development of entrepreneurial orientation over time through transfering across generations and contexts. Our study indicates that, through family dynamics, EO is developed as a transferring process of the founders' proactiveness, risk-taking and innovativeness between the family in the home and host country., Part of: Entrepreneurship, Regions & Regional DevelopmentEuropean Academy of Management

We investigate how family firms manage and overcome the Covid-crisis. We distinguish between different areas of crisis origin, i.e. the environment, the business or the family. We propose a process model of crisis management and draw on a interview study of German and Swedish companies. The model includes different activities which could be undertaken before, during and after a crisis-event. We propose four essential topics for family firms’ crisis management: (1) family firm leadership mindset, (2) multiple crisis management practices, (3) relationship and network strength and (4) process view.

The purpose of this comparative case study is to understand codetermination intwo family firms. Thereby, this study aims at exploring the role of employee-representativesin two non-listed family businesses. Empirically, this study draws on aninterpretive case study of two family businesses. Its findings extend earlier research,by exploring and introducing the phenomenon of codetermination in the familybusiness literature. Codetermination is explored with the perspective of paternalismas analytical lens. Theoretically, the study draws on the control-collaboration paradoxwhich helps understanding the phenomenon of codetermination. The study revealsdifferent types of codetermination, i.e., the works council and the board of directors.The implications of these types are highlighted and discussed. Findingshighlight the need for professional governance structures in order to facilitate cooperationbetween family owners, the management, and employee representatives.Professional governance allows handling the paternalistic ideological underpinningswhich can otherwise prevent continued firm success, leading to unsolved conflicts.

This study investigate social value creation in family firms in a region in Sweden. The purpose of this study is tocompare two family firms that are embedded in a strong regional entrepreneurial culture and understand howthe owners contribute to value creation. A case study approach is used to understand the value creation. Thestudy finds different forums and means of interaction between the firms and the community, such as the localuniversity and the local sports club. The owners become engaged citizens which allows extending earlier discussionson the subject. Thereby, the student develops the concept of social value creation at the interconnectionof family firms and communities. The study draws on prior discourses from the entrepreneurship literature., [The conference was cancelled but abstracts were published. Presentations were given online.]

The paper is based on an in-depth case study of two family firms in the newspaper industry. This industrycombines institutional logics, such as journalistic and management logic (Achtenhagen, & Raviola, 2009), as wellas family logic in these two cases. This paper intends to make the following contributions. First, we highlight thatfamily owners are central actors in the process of balancing different institutional logics. Further, we analyzehow family members can become hybrid owner-managers, meaning that they have access to all institutionallogics and become central actors in the balancing process., [The conference was cancelled but abstracts were published. Presentations were given online.]

The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of resource orchestration in rapidly growing owner-ledcompanies in dynamic environments. Based on a comparative case study of owner-led companies, the resource orchestration in a owner-led familyfirm is compared with an owner-led one. A large amount of archival data and interviews are used. By uncoveringthe resource management process, the findings indicate a difference in focus between the owner-led familyfirm and the owner-led firm. The resource orchestration in the family firm focuses to a greater extent on therecruitment of new staff, the incorporation and the control of “right” values and norms. On the other hand, theowner-led business puts a higher focus on performance metrics and the documented coordination of teams andcustomers. By revealing the management role in a dynamic industry, the present study criticizes and extendsgeneral findings of the resource orchestration literature., [The conference was cancelled but abstracts were published. Presentations were given online.]