Conference Agenda

ABSTRACT

Succession planning in family firms is a critical component for ensuring business continuity, minimizing internal conflicts, preparing for unforeseen circumstances, nurturing internal talent, and preserving financial stability. The implementation of a comprehensive plan not only guarantees the long-term success of the business, but also fortifies the foundations for future generations. Despite this, there is limited knowledge about the socio-economic and collective mechanisms underpinning the process. Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to emphasize the significance of understanding and managing family collective psychological ownership for the success of family businesses, particularly in the context of succession planning. To achieve this objective, a quantitative research design was employed using a sample of 107 Spanish family firms. The results of this study may contribute to a better understanding of the factors that influence the successful implementation of succession plans in family firms.

Keywords. Family collective psychological ownership, succession planning, family firms.

This study examines the antecedents of digital alignment (DA) within the context of family firms. For family owners, investments in information technology and its adoption present a complex dilemma: while these investments are essential for long-term growth and survival, they also carry significant risks. Drawing on the socioemotional wealth (SEW) and behavioral theories, we propose that SEW priorities—specifically, family control and influence, family members' identification with the firm, and their emotional attachment—along with the performance context, directly influence DA. Furthermore, due to the specificities of family firms, we hypothesize that the impact of SEW priorities on DA is positively moderated by transformational leadership. Our empirical analysis provides strong support to both types of economic and noneconomic priorities and partial support for the moderating role of transformational leadership.

We analyse the moderating effect of independent directors and the ownership of pension funds on the risk-taking of Chilean-listed family firms for the 2005-2020 period. Our results show a negative relationship between familiness and risk-taking. In the Chilean context, where ownership is highly concentrated and investor protection is weak, the family shareholders might use their power to avoid risky decisions that could reduce the financial and socioemotional wealth of the family. We also find that independent directors and the presence of pension funds as shareholders counteract the risk aversion of families and avoid sub-optimal corporate risk levels. These results suggest that independent directors and pension funds have the resources and knowledge to incentivise risky but profitable projects and reduce the controlling family’s conservative behaviour.

La internacionalización impulsa el crecimiento de las pequeñas y medianas empresas familiares (PYMEs) y contribuye a sus objetivos a largo plazo. Sin embargo, estas empresas enfrentan diversas limitaciones en sus esfuerzos de internacionalización, y afirmamos que la transformación digital puede abordar dichas limitaciones. Basándonos en la teoría de costos de transacción, este estudio busca dilucidar cómo la transformación digital afecta el proceso de internacionalización de las PYMEs familiares. La transformación digital no solo ofrece mayores oportunidades en términos de recopilación de información, conectividad y reducción de costos en mercados extranjeros, sino que también mitiga sus riesgos. El análisis se centra en una muestra de pequeñas y medianas empresas familiares españolas y prueba las relaciones hipotéticas mediante modelización de ecuaciones estructurales. Nuestros resultados sugieren que la transformación digital tiene un efecto positivo en la internacionalización de las PYMEs familiares y que esta relación se ve positivamente moderada por la participación multigeneracional y negativamente por la implicación familiar en los puestos gerenciales. Esta investigación ofrece varias contribuciones a la teoría y práctica de las empresas familiares.