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This paper aims to examine how organisational values affect diversity in terms of different competencies in rural family Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Recruiting a diverse workforce in rural family SMEs can be particularly difficult due to the prevalence of internal family values and the lack of available local specialised competencies. A deficiency of diversity in employment and competence acquisition and development can create problems, as it often prevents rural family SMEs from recruiting employees with a wide variety of qualifications and skills.

The study takes on a multi-case method of Swedish rural family SMEs, applying a qualitative content analysis approach. In total, 20 in-depth structured interviews are conducted with rural family SME owners and 2 industries were investigated and compared – the tourism and the manufacturing industries.

Rural family SMEs lack long-term employment strategies, and competence diversity does not appear to be a priority for rural family SMEs, as they often have prematurely decided who they will hire rather than what competencies are needed for their long-term business development. It is more important to keep the team of employees tight and the family spirit present than to include competence diversity and mixed qualifications in the employment acquisition and development.

Contrary to prior research, our findings indicate that rural family SMEs apply short-term competence diversity strategies rather than long-term prospects regarding competence acquisition and management, due to their family values and rural setting, which strictly narrows the selection of employees and competencies. Also, a general reluctance towards competence diversity is identified, which originates from the very same family values and rural context.

This paper aims to examine the relationship between being members of social media business networks and SME performance by comparing business performance between family-owned SMEs that are members and non-members of social media business networks.

The analysis empirically draws on cross-sectional data of 9,292 English and Welsh family-owned SMEs from the UK's Government Small Business Survey 2015. Propensity Score Matching (PSM) is applied to control for selection bias and differences in firm characteristics before comparing business performance, measured in terms of annual turnover, sales-growth intention and innovation between family-owned SMEs that are members and non-members of social media business networks.

The findings show that family-owned SMEs that are members of social media business networks are more likely to have higher prior turnover and to grow their sales than non-members. Also, they are more likely to report being innovative in products and processes than non-members. The empirical results acknowledge the importance of online business networks and digital social capital on enhanced family-owned business performance.

This paper is the first to explore the comparative analysis of business performance between family-owned SMEs that are members and non-members of social media business networks. This paper is important for the development of family business research by providing a comprehensive evidence-based analysis regarding the importance of online business networks to improve family-owned business performance, given the significant contribution of digital business activities to the UK economy.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of the gender diversity of top management teams (TMTs) on the financial performance (FP) of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. This paper also examines the moderating effect of family control on this relationship.

Using a sample of SMEs in Vietnam, this paper uses descriptive statistics and balance panel regression with random effect to analyse 5,160 firm-year observations of family- and non-family-owned SMEs between 2011 and 2015.

The findings demonstrate that gender diversity in TMTs shows a negative relationship with the FP of family-controlled SMEs and no significant impact on FP of non-family SMEs. This study also illustrates a positive curvilinear relationship between the female manager rate in TMTs and firms’ FP in family SMEs.

This research study is limited to data from Vietnamese SMEs. Future studies could investigate these relationships with larger firms and in a broader geographical context.

This study provides a better understanding of the impact of TMT gender diversity on FP in Vietnamese SMEs while considering the moderating effect of family control. The findings support some theories relating to managerial gender diversity and the effect of family control on this diversity in family SMEs.

The field of scientific research on small and medium-sized family businesses has been growing exponentially and the aim of this paper is to systematize the body of knowledge to develop an agenda for the future.

Adopting comparative bibliometric analyses on 155 articles (from 1989 until 2018) the authors provide a systematic assessment of the scientific research about small family firms, unveiling the structure and evolution of the field. Bibliographic coupling, co-citation analysis and co-occurrence analysis are adopted to identify the most influential studies and themes.

Four clusters of research are reviewed: succession in family SMEs, performances of family SMEs, internationalization of family SMEs and organizational culture of family SMEs.

This paper contributes to the field of family SMEs by providing a systematic analysis of the scientific knowledge. Reviewing those clusters allows to providing avenues and reflections for future research and further practice.

The assessment of the role of entrepreneurial passion in international entrepreneurship needs further attention. This study aims to fill this research gap by assessing the role of developing entrepreneurial passion, when moderated by the adversity of fragile countries, in the success of small and medium family enterprises’ (family SMEs) internationalization success.

Using time-lagged survey date from decision-makers on internationalized family SMEs from fragile countries (Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Egypt and Syria) between 2020 and 2022, this study assesses the relationship between the entrepreneurial passion and family SMEs’ internationalization success as well as the moderating effect of the institutional context of these fragile countries.

The results demonstrated that the developing entrepreneurial passion is positively related to the family SMEs’ internationalization success. Moreover, the adversity of fragile home countries significantly moderates this relationship.

This study is a catalyst for future passion theoretical research on fragile countries. Moreover, it will encourage more studies on the understanding of the entrepreneurial passion for organizational performance of family SMEs, especially in an international context.

The purpose of this study is to provide a nuanced explanation of the linkage between entrepreneurial motivations, job attractiveness and growth of family-owned small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) using expectancy and institutional theories.

The data was collected from small family business owners and job seekers in the same companies during interview time using a simple random technique.

The study found that three EMs among small business owners play a pivotal role in family SME business growth in underdeveloped trade regions like China–Pakistan Economic Corridor. These firms are interested in investing in seaport-related commerce, restaurants or hotels and real estate business.

The government, small family business owners, universities and regional youth can use this applied research for their benefits alike.

The study contributes in multiple ways. First, the authors brought a unique context in the emerging economies context of an informal economy like Pakistan. Second, the authors have uniquely tested the moderating role of job attractiveness in the least developed regions. Finally, the authors have integrated family SMEs’ expectancy theory and institutional perspective.

This work aims to offer a better understanding of the inevitable challenges related to the digital transformation in the family-owned low-tech SMEs, examining the role assumed by familiness in this specific context. To this end, it examines the main factors that influence the adoption and implementation of digital technologies in the family-owned low-tech SMEs.

The study uses a multiple case studies approach, by investigating the case of family-owned low-tech SMEs operating in the winery sector and located in the South-Italy area.

Based on the empirical evidence, findings show how familiness influence the digital transformation of family-owned SMEs and highlight three main factors – individual, process and organization – relevant for the introduction and use of digital technologies in the productive and innovative activities of these organizations.

This paper fills the research gap existing in the literature on the family business. Firstly, it focuses on the digital transformation phenomenon and underlines how familiness, within family-owned low-tech SMEs, can differently influence the firm's innovation processes primarly based on the use of digital technologies oriented to enable business improvements. Then, it identifies diverse dimensions that can act as “barriers” or “facilitators” for adopting advanced digital technologies within the organizations here examined.

This study aims to analyze how the presence of women is seen in family small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) succession process from the successors' perspective.

To do so, the multiple case study method (qualitative approach) was used: five Brazilian SMEs and three Portuguese SMEs, and the data-collecting techniques were the online interview and documentary analysis. Data analysis was through content analysis using NVivo software.

The empirical evidence obtained led to the conclusion that the natural succession process is predominant in the family SMEs studied here. Although succession planning is present in some firms, these plans are informal and not rigid as regards deadlines. Nor do they present stages and tasks that could be considered as a planned succession.

The study shows that successors do not see gender as a relevant criterion for the choice of successor. It is concluded that women's participation in family SME succession, even to a lesser extent, is still marked by gender inequality. So, this study provides directions to policymakers and researchers to focus on developmental programmes for the presence of women in family SMEs' succession process.

Although some successors consider that these firms' performance may be different due to gender characteristics, others emphasize that management is the same. Therefore, this study provides the futuristic direction to policymakers, researchers and educators for focusing on the enhancement of women entrepreneurs which plays a crucial role in the family SMEs' succession process. Therefore, a conceptual framework is proposed that explains the articulation of different categories to understand the gender perspective in family firms' succession.

This study explores the influence of Wasta, informal social network on the retention of non-family talented employees in family-owned SMEs in Jordan. Despite the increased attention received by talent management (TM) in the last decade, limited attention has focused on family-owned-SMEs. This study demonstrates while resource-based view explains how human capital provides sustainable competitive advantage the lack of strategic retention management may lead to losing this competitive advantage.

A multiple case study approach underpinned by a qualitative orientation was utilized to help explore the dynamics of TM practices in greater depth. The authors conducted a series of 18 semi-structured in-depth interviews with HR managers, non-family junior and middle managers from six family-owned enterprises.

Evidence showed that family Wasta accelerate employee dissatisfaction among non-family talented individuals and in turn enhances their intention to leave due to organizational injustice and lack of organizational support.

This study could help managers in family-owned organizations enforce the concept of organizational justice by implementing solid performance management systems and talent reviews to strengthen the social exchange with non-family competent employees.

First, this study demonstrates how access to Wasta accelerate the mobility of non-family talented individuals and in turn enhances their intention to leave. Second, this study provides a theoretical and contextual framework to deepen the authors’ understanding of the impact of social networks on strategic retention performance.

The complexity of succession in family firms is multifaceted and can sometimes lead to turbulence. While structured succession strategies offer a roadmap for smoother transitions, intergenerational differences in family small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can lead to varied interpretations of an effective succession blueprint. This study synergizes the strategic entrepreneurship framework with the socioemotional wealth (SEW) perspective to probe into how formalized succession planning impacts performance in family SMEs. Furthermore, it delves into the mediating role of succession satisfaction, especially in family firms characterized by pronounced SEW and helmed by CEOs from different generational cohorts.

Employing a comprehensive dataset from 1,833 global family businesses, this research utilizes bootstrapping regression models to discern the intertwined effects of mediator and moderator variables and their statistical significance.

The main findings suggest that succession satisfaction does matter for a good succession process and that succession plans work only in family firms with a high degree of SEW and that are led by older family CEOs (e.g. baby boomers).

The results offer fresh perspectives on succession processes, with a particular focus on how to improve the satisfaction of millennial family CEOs.

The study uniquely combines strategic entrepreneurship and SEW to offer a holistic view of succession planning, highlighting satisfaction’s mediating role and SEW’s moderating influence. Additionally, it pioneers the incorporation of generational cohorts into the succession discourse.