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Socioemotional wealth (SEW) has emerged as a defining concept that distinguishes family-owned business organizations from businesses that are not exclusively controlled by family coalitions. This empirical study expands the literature by presenting a more nuanced understanding of how individual dimensions of socioemotional wealth interacts with firm performance outcomes. Deploying the stakeholder theory, the purpose of this study is to propose a research model linking the five dimensions of SEW with firm performance to propose and test a set of hypotheses.

To test the hypotheses, data were collected through a survey of 357 medium-to-large private family firms in Bangladesh that were involved in export-oriented production of ready-made garments. Based on structural equation modeling, the data were analyzed using SmartPLS.

The results indicate that out of the five dimensions of SEW, three dimensions – family identification, emotional attachment and renewal of bonds through dynastic succession – have a positive and significant impact on firm performance. On the other hand, family control and influence have a significant but negative impact on firm performance. The only exception is in the case of binding social ties, which indicate a non-significant relationship.

By attempting to provide a clearer and predictable link between family-centric non-economic goals and firm-centric business goals, the study contributes to theory building and attempts to address the conflict in the literature in the study of family involvement in management and performance of the business enterprise.

For industry practitioners and family business owners, it could provide guidance on which family-centric goals would maximize benefits to the firm and address the family-based utilities. Future strategic plans aimed at growth and sustainability of family firms can derive important clues from the findings of this study and design actionable goals that leverage those dimensions of socioemotional wealth that have a positive impact on firm performance.

Social implications of ensuring survival of family businesses are significant because of their role as one of the largest sources of employment generation in most societies. Policymakers and regulatory authorities would be able to frame customized initiatives to foster growth and sustainability of family enterprises that have such large impact on the economy.

Theoretical contribution of the study comes from a more nuanced understanding of relationships between the individual dimension of SEW and firm performance, which will delineate a more consistent and predictable link between family-centric goals and firm-level outcomes. From the perspective of practical contribution, this may provide useful guidelines to industry practitioners and policymakers to frame initiatives that enable growth and sustainability of family firms that are typically the largest employment generators in most economies.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the elements of family-centric non-economic goals, such as socioemotional wealth (SEW) of family business owners, that drive family commitment. The empirical study further tests whether such relationships are impacted by the aspect of ownership, that is, who controls the firm: founder generation or subsequent generation of owner managers.

Deploying the SEW and stakeholder theories, this study proposes a conceptual link between soecioemotional wealth dimensions and family commitment. The study is based on a survey of 357 private family firms in Bangladesh involved in manufacturing ready-made garments. The respondents are all in senior-level management positions in their respective firms and are members of the dominant owning family.

Prior to considering the moderating effect of controlling generation, the results indicate that four out of five FIBER dimensions of SEW affect family commitment, except for binding social ties. The study also finds that when a comparison is made between the founder generation and the subsequent generation of family firm managers, it is the latter that manifests significantly higher levels of family commitment when the focus is on the two FIBER dimensions of SEW: binding social ties and identification of family members with the firm.

Although the cross-sectional nature of the study exposes the study to the specter of common method bias, procedural remedies were initiated to minimize the likelihood. Furthermore, data were collected from a single key informant in each organization. Therefore, both a longitudinal study and corroborating data from more than one individual in each firm would possibly provide a more robust picture.

Key decision makers from within the family who wish to see their subsequent generation remain engaged and committed to the family firm may find cues from the fact that focusing on binding social ties and identification of family members with the firm play an important role in ensuring continued commitment to the business by their successors.

Family businesses are recognized to be vital contributors to most societies around the globe, both as employment generators as well as catalysts of economic activities. Hence, policy makers may derive pertinent information from the study in adopting policies to nurture and ensure survival and continuity of family-owned businesses, by understanding how family-centric non-economic goals impact family’s desire to commit resources, time and effort to the enterprise from generation to generation.

Determining the factors that drive continued engagement and commitment of family members to the business enterprise is a phenomenon that needs to be better understood in order to ensure continuity and survival of family enterprises across generations. This study attempts to provide a more nuanced understanding of how different components of family-centric goals, such as SEW, impact family commitment. The study contributes to theory building by providing a conceptual link that demonstrates the components of SEW that are most pertinent in terms of ensuring higher levels of family commitment to the family-owned business.

Although family business literature acknowledges that family firms owners are motivated by a set of socioemotional wealth (SEW) goals along with firm-centric business goals, yet a consistently predictable pattern of relationship between SEW and financial wealth is yet to be discerned. The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical model based on the stakeholder approach to suggest that family commitment mediates the association between the dimensions of SEW and firm performance.

A set of hypotheses are proposed that are tested using structural equation modeling with data collected from 357 medium to large sized privately held family firms in Bangladesh. The data analysis is done with SmartPLS (v.3.2).

The results indicate that family commitment partially mediates the relationships between family control and influence, family identification, emotional attachment and renewal of family bonds through dynastic succession and firm performance. The only non-significant relationship was between binding social ties and firm performance. The results provide a more nuanced understanding of the link between SEW goals and firm performance, and present important implications for theory and practice.

The cross-sectional nature of the study exposes it to the specter of common method bias despite the fact that procedural remedies were initiated to minimize the impact of such occurrence. A longitudinal study with data obtained from multiple individuals at different levels of the organization would possibly yield more robust findings. Furthermore, in the absence of a multi-country and multi-sector analysis, a broad generalization of the findings may not be feasible.

The knowledge that family identity, emotional attachment and renewal of family bonds through dynastic succession may be leveraged to enhance the commitment of subsequent generation of family firm owners to the firm that may be pertinent to incumbents who desire to see their successors more engaged in the family enterprise. Furthermore, knowing that excessive focus on family control over the firm leads to negative outcomes is also pertinent to family firm leaders.

Survival of family businesses is vital to the global economy as one of the primary drivers of global GDP growth and source of new employment. Policy makers can benefit from the findings of this study to customize policies that take into cognizance the importance of SEW owners of family firms and the fact that some of these SEW goals actually benefit the firm in terms of enhanced commitment to the enterprise and consequently superior firm performance.

The role of family commitment as a mediator between SEW and firm performance has not been dominant in the literature. By providing a finer-grained understanding of how family commitment accounts for the relationship between family-centric non-economic goals such as SEW and firm-centric goals such as business performance, the study presents a theoretical link between sociomemotional wealth and financial wealth in the context of private family firms.

The purpose of this paper is to explain how the concept of socioemotional wealth can be combined with other important concepts in the family firm literature to develop a theory of the family firm.

This is a conceptual paper based on a review of the paper of Martin and Gómez-Mejía in this issue as well as the family business literature in general.

Martin and Gómez-Mejía (this issue) present a theoretical model and propositions on the relationship between socioemotional and financial wealth that advances understanding of family firm decision-making. That paper provides an initial step toward a theory of the family firm that can explain why firms select the family form of organization to conduct economic activities, what determines their scale and scope and why heterogeneity is observed among family firms. This commentary takes another step toward such a theory by discussing how the combined consideration of goals, governance and resources could be used to address the above three questions.

The precepts of a new theory of the family firm is presented that incorporates the concepts of goals (socioemotional wealth), governance (family ownership and control) and resources (familiness) of family firms to explain why family firms exist and potentially thrive as well as to explain the heterogeneity among family firms.

Family firms possess dual identities, being the family and the business, which can be segmented and integrated to various degrees. This study examines whether and how management control technologies are calibrated to fit into the dual identities of family firms.

A qualitative study of 20 family firms was conducted using semi-structured, in-depth interviews with owner-managers, drawings of mental maps and publicly available information. The notion of calibration was developed and used, with its three components of graduation, purpose and reference, as an organizing device for the interpretive understanding of the management control usage and its relation to family firms’ dual identities.

The study finds that the use of calculative, family-centric and procedural management controls – in sum the pervasive use of management control technologies – are associated with a professionalization of the family firm, a foregrounding of the business identity and a reduction of the disadvantageous side of familiness. In comparison, the pragmatic and minimal use of management control technologies are found to be associated with an emphasis on family identity. It transpires as liberating, engendering trust and unfolding a familial environment.

Because results are derived from a qualitative approach, they are not generalizable at an empirical level. By showing how the use of management control technologies is calibrated with reference to family firms’ dual identities, the paper reveals the perceived potency of control technologies to affect the identity of firms.

The study reveals how family firms perceive management control technologies as strengthening their business identity while weakening their family identity. Thereby, this study provides an account of how management control technologies are expected to change the identity of firms.

This paper contributes to the management control and family business literatures because it uncovers how management control technologies are calibrated in reference to family firms’ dual identities. It shows that calculative, family-centric and procedural management controls are used to professionalize the firm and strengthen its business identity as well as to reduce the negative effects of the family identity. The paper also illustrates how the liberating force of using pragmatic and minimal control technologies can serve to give prominence to the family identity.

This study examines the propensity to innovate in automation of family firms (FFs) based on the socio-emotional wealth (SEW) perspective.

This study’s analysis is based on three aspects. First, the authors consider three main non-economic goals and priorities of FFs: the family’s relationship with employees (read as to care for their satisfaction and well-being); the inner pride of building and maintaining the family and firm image and reputation; and the inner feeling to be socially responsible. Second, the authors consider how these goals and priorities vary among FFs according to four dimensions: family ownership, the presence of family members on the board of directors, the involvement of young successors, and the presence of founding and later generations. Finally, the consequences of automation are considered: lower firm employment, lower employees’ satisfaction and well-being, and higher firm productivity. The analysis is based on a sample of 4,150 Italian firms.

The analysis revealed that FFs are less prone to innovate in automation than non-FFs. Specifically, family ownership, the presence of family members on the board of directors, and the presence of founding generation are negatively associated with innovation in automation. Instead, the involvement of young successors and the presence of later generation are positively associated with innovation in automation.

To the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first investigation that, based on SEW, examines how FFs act on the decision to innovate in automation, thereby providing empirical evidence.

Our paper seeks to further understand how family involvement in management influences firm growth.

Using a sample of small high-tech firms, we classify three different types of firms: family firms managed by family-CEOs, family firms managed by non-family CEOs and non-family firms.

Consistent with our expectations, we show that firms managed by family-CEOs have less firm growth in comparison with the other two groups. When the family firm is managed by non-family CEOs, the presence of another family member in management positions has a negative impact on firm growth. Finally, we found that founder-led family firms have better firm growth than descendant-led family firms.

Implications for the theory of family firms are discussed.

The value of the present study is to analyse in depth the heterogeneity of the family business trying to close the gap by exploring the effect of family involvement on small firm growth. Thus, we will find different behaviours of these family companies, depending on the family member’s presence in management positions.

The literature related to knowledge management (KM) is robust with respect to insights regarding firms in general. However, less is known about the KM of family firms despite these firms being the most common form of business organization worldwide. Further, even though the number of studies examining family-firm KM has increased in recent years, the insights gained remain fragmented. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to help coalesce and advance the study of family-firm KM.

In pursuit of these goals, a systematic literature review was conducted. Using a 6-step, systematic literature review protocol, 74 articles focused on family-firm KM published in 23 journals were identified and reviewed.

This literature review contributes to the synthesis and advancement of family-firm KM scholarship in several ways. First, key factors and relationships are identified and integrated into a robust framework. Second, scholarly insights are synthesized, and a review of the primary antecedents, outcomes and moderating factors associated with family-firm KM processes is presented. Third, promising opportunities for future research are highlighted to advance family-firm KM scholarship.

With a focus on reducing the fragmentation in the literature, this review synthesizes insights related to the most commonly studied antecedents, outcomes and moderators associated with family-firm KM. Additionally, antecedents are organized and reviewed according to the nature of their influence on family-firm KM processes, highlighting the simultaneous opposite effects of some influences. Further, key outcomes are synthesized based on their family versus firm-centric orientation. Even further, insights and opportunities focused on advancing the theory, antecedents, outcomes, moderators and other issues related to family-firm KM are presented in an effort to support the continued progress of scholarship in this area.

The purpose of this research is to examine the interplay between family commitment as a family-centric resource and professionalization of the organization as a firm-centric resource to determine how the two phenomenon come together to enhance business performance in the context of privately held family firms.

Deploying the theoretical lens offered by the resource-based view, a conceptual link is developed between family commitment to the firm and firm performance with the potential moderating influence of firm professionalization. The hypotheses are tested using data collected from 357 privately held medium-to-large family-owned manufacturing companies in Bangladesh. The data are analyzed through structural equation modeling using SmartPLS (v.3.2).

The data analysis suggests that in absence of the moderator; professionalization, family commitment has a positive and significant association with firm performance. While in the presence of the moderator the above relationship is substantially stronger. The findings indicate that when family-specific resources and firm-specific resources are synchronized, it enhances performance of the family firm and puts it on a strong economic footing toward a more sustainable future.

Cross-sectional nature of the study exposes it to the specter of common method bias despite the fact that procedural remedies were initiated to minimize the impact of such occurrence. Furthermore, data were collected from a single individual in each organization. Therefore, a longitudinal study with data obtained from multiple individuals at different levels of the organization would possibly yield more robust findings.

Leaders of family firms may find pertinent clues from the outcome of this study. Particularly, the confluence of family commitment to the firm as a family-specific resource and professionalization as a firm-specific resource can be valuable, rare, difficult to imitate and substitute source of competitive advantage for the family business organization.

Survival of family businesses is vital to the global economy as one of the primary drivers of global gross domestic product growth and source of new employment. Policymakers can benefit from the findings of this study to customize policies to nurture growth of family enterprises and incentivize family firms to adopt professionalization through better governance and transparent managerial procedures.

A nuanced understanding of how family commitment and firm professionalization combine to significantly improve performance of family firms has not been dominant in the literature. Therefore, findings of this study carry special theoretical implications, because it suggests that both family-specific features and firm-specific features are necessary for enhanced levels of firm-centric business outcomes such as economic performance.

The study provides the emergence and evolution of the socioemotional wealth (SEW) concept in the family business field from 2007 (the inception date) until 2021. To provide a better overview of this notion, the study unfolds a deeper understanding of this term throughout the systematic literature review (SLR).

The study applies a systematic literature review (SLR) by analyzing the sample of 185SEW articles extracted from the Scopus database. To identify all relevant studies, the article selection process was carefully designed and divided into two phases with clear steps: identification of studies via databases and identification of studies via previous studies' reference lists. Selected studies were analyzed using the Bibliometrix R-tool, resulting in an analysis of the evolution of the trends in the SEW literature, citation analysis, and network analysis. Finally, this SLR included the content analysis of the 25 most-cited SEW articles.

The study provides a relevant and comprehensive overview facilitating empirical and theoretical research in this field and paving the way to develop new themes. The bottom line of the important findings is that the SEW concept is relatively new, alluding to a wealthy venue for future works. Other results and implications are discussed on the family business and SEW theme. Additionally, the study provides suggestions which could be used for future works in this area.

This is the first article related to the SEW concept in the family business. It portrays a clear picture of this field, providing relevant information on what has been done, as well as what the future possibilities are that might bode the future horizons in family businesses.