Digital Product Innovation Within Family Firms : A Construal Level Perspective

Capolupo, Paolo and Ardito, Lorenzo and Petruzzelli, Antonio Messeni and Kammerlander, Nadine and De Massis, Alfredo (2024) Digital Product Innovation Within Family Firms : A Construal Level Perspective. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. ISSN 1042-2587

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Abstract

Digital product innovation (DPI) is critical for the survival of firms, especially those operating in traditional industrial-age industries. While research has started to investigate digital innovation in family firms (FFs) considering them as a monolithic group, we still lack a more nuanced perspective that considers heterogeneity among FFs with respect to DPI and what drives such variance. Drawing on construal level theory to explain the risk behavior and goal time horizon of FF owner-managers, we propose and find that the presence of later family generations in control positively influences DPI in FFs, while the presence of a family CEO is detrimental to DPI. Furthermore, we propose that these relationships are moderated by the size of the top management team (TMT), finding that a larger TMT weakens the positive relationship between later generations in control and DPI. We base our analysis on a longitudinal sample of 103 FFs in the automotive, industrial engineering, and pharmaceutical sectors observed from 2013 to 2020. This first empirical study applying construal level theory to the family business literature has important implications for the FF digital innovation literature and for FF owner-managers interested in achieving DPI.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2000/2002
Subjects:
?? economics and econometricsbusiness and international management ??
ID Code:
224104
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
13 Sep 2024 10:05
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
26 Sep 2024 01:09