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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.

Leveraging the mindfulness theory and the social exchange theory, this study examines the influence of perceived leader mindfulness (PLM) on turnover intentions (TOI) of non-family employees (NFEs) working in family firms. The study investigates whether the above relationship is mediated by employee perceptions of leader–member exchange quality (LMX quality) and their affective commitment (AC).

A conceptual framework is proposed that hypothesizes inverse relationship between PLM and TOI, which is posited to be mediated by both LMX quality and AC. The hypotheses are tested through survey data collected from 254 NFEs working in various family-owned businesses in Malaysia. The data analyzed through partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The results indicate that PLM has a positive influence on both LMX quality and AC. Moreover, PLM has a strong negative affect on TOI. In terms of results of mediation analysis, it appears that two mediation hypotheses out of four are significant, that is mediating effect of AC between PLM and TOI and LMX quality between PLM and AC. However, the mediating role of LMX quality between PLM and TOI and the sequential mediation hypotheses were both non-significant.

The findings of the study imply is that to ensure retention of qualified and talented NFEs, mindfulness of family firm leaders plays a significant role in ensuring lower TOI. Furthermore, such a goal is better achieved by ensuring that such employees are supported through leadership that leads to their development of better LMX quality and AC towards the organization. The study however is limited, as other potential exogenous variables that may influence TOI were not considered.

Losing employees that join a firm and acquire valuable skills and experience is a significant concern for family firms that are known for discriminating between employees related to the owners and outsiders. This study presents evidence for owners and managers of family firms that by focusing on mindful behavior and working towards developing better LMX quality and AC of NFEs, the organization can reduce TOI of such employees.

This study contributes to the under-researched and fragmented literature on relationships between PLM among NFEs and TOI of such individuals working in family firms. Moreover, this appears to be the first study that investigates mediating roles of and LMX quality and AC among NFEs in the above relationship.

Workplace thriving (WT), self-job crafting (SJC), and workplace belongingness (WB) have been shown to lead to positive outcomes for organizations and their employees. However, there seems to be a dearth of insights into the relationship between the three constructs, and non-existent in the context of non-family employees (NFEs) working in private family firms. Therefore, this study examines whether enabling NFEs to craft their own jobs leads them to reappraise their position in the organization, thus influencing both WB and WT.

Leaning on the conservation of resources (COR) theory and with the support of the self-determination theory (SDT), a set of hypotheses is posited relating the dimensions of SJC (seeking resources, seeking challenges and job-demand reduction) to WT, through WB as a mediator. The hypotheses are tested through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) by collecting survey data from 256 NFEs working in private family firms in Oman.

The results indicate that all three dimensions of job crafting have a positive influence on WB. In the case of direct effect on WT, only the relationship between seeking challenges and WT was significant. However, the relationships between all 3 dimensions of SJC and WT became significant through WB as mediator.

The implication of this study is that merely empowering non-family employees to craft their own jobs may not lead them to thrive in private family firms. However, if they appraise such empowerment as significant resource-gain that leads them to feel that they belong to the organization, then it is likely to enhance WT.

This study presents evidence for private family firms that by emphasizing on creating a sense of belongingness among their non-family employees, they can create a workplace where such employees can thrive.

Three novel contributions are presented through this research: (1) this appears to be the first study that integrates the COR theory with SDT to enrich the fragmented literature on NFEs in family firms by presenting an integrated framework that links SJC, WB and WT, (2) the study presents nuanced insights into the relationships between the dimensions of SJC and WT and (3) finally, this study provides evidence on the mediating role of WB between dimensions of SJC and WT, which seems to be overlooked in the past.

Ownership structure plays a significant role in determining board demographic diversity. However, it is still unclear how different ownership configurations impact the structures of firm's boards and how board diversity influences firm performance. This study aims to investigate the relationship between family ownership and board diversity. Therefore, in this study, the authors argue that family firms have a lower level of board demographic diversity (in terms of age, gender and nationality) than non-family firms and that board diversity moderates the relationship between ownership and firm performance.

To test the authors’ hypotheses, we draw data from a sample of 341 German family and non-family firms for a period of five years.

The results show that family firms are less diverse in terms of age, gender and nationality diversity than non-family firms.

This study contributes to the general understanding of family firms and in particular the role ownership plays in shaping board demographic diversity.

The family business literature indicates that non-family employees (NFEs) working in private family firms often feel marginalized effecting their ability to flourish at work and contribute to the organization beyond their defined job roles. Therefore, this study examines whether enabling NFEs to craft their own jobs, leads them to reappraise their position in the organization, thus influencing workplace flourishing (WF) and supervisor-assessed extra-role behaviour (ERB).

Building on the Conservation of Resources theory, a set of hypotheses is posited relating the three dimensions of job crafting (resource seeking, challenge seeking and job demand reduction) to ERB, through WF as a mediator. The hypotheses are tested through matched employee–supervisor data collected from 256 individuals working in private family firms, where 232 were NFEs while 24 individuals were supervisors.

The result generated through PLS-SEM indicates that all three dimensions of job crafting have a positive influence on WF. In the case of direct effect on ERB, only the direct relationship between challenge seeking and ERB was significant. However, the relationships between all three dimensions of job crafting and ERB became positive and significant through WF as mediator.

The implications of this study is that merely empowering NFEs to craft their own jobs may not lead them to contribute to the organization beyond their routine tasks. However, if they appraise such empowerment as a resource gain sufficient enough for them to feel that there are flourishing at the workplace, and then it is likely to influence their commitment to the organization to exhibit significant ERB. The study however is limited, as other potential exogenous variables that influence ERB were not considered.

This study presents evidence for family business owners and managers to provide the pertinent resource support to their NFEs, so that they can flourish and contribute to the employer.

The current study contributes to the under-researched and fragmented literature on NFEs working in family firms. Furthermore, this appears to be among the first study that looks into workplace flourishing and ERB among NFEs in the realm of family business.

This study aims to extend the research in the field of external investments in family firms. It contributes to the literature by analyzing the drivers of the family firm owner-managers selling a minority stake to a strategic investor. This type of external investment might be of great interest to family firms because the family firm owner-managers can secure control over the firm and preserve socioemotional wealth while simultaneously generating additional financing and gaining strategic and managerial know-how. Likewise, minority investments in family firms might also be of high interest to strategic investors, thus enabling close collaborations (e.g. in R&D, purchasing and sales) with minor equity investments.

This study tests the hypotheses using a vignette study leveraging 327 observations from family firm owner-managers.

Based on the socioemotional wealth perspective, this study hypothesizes that the degree of family prominence, the degree of employee orientation and pure family management influence the willingness to sell. In addition, this study hypothesizes that the moderating effect of a below-average financial performance weakens the abovementioned direct effects. This study finds support for most hypotheses.

This study extends the research in the field of external investments in family firms. It contributes to the literature by analyzing the drivers of the family firm owner-managers selling a minority stake to a strategic investor.

This study aims to examine how differences in the strength of interpersonal ties affect the social structure of organisational family and non-family relationships and their implications for work-related interactions.

This study used a quantitative approach. The hypotheses were tested using multi-group analysis in PLS-SEM as implemented in WarpPLS Version.

The results show that both family and non-family organisational members are inclined to ask from others whom they previously have given information, implying that reciprocity in work-related interactions in the workplace is present at the dyad level. Furthermore, the existing robust strength of ties among family employees facilitate a three-way relationship where each member is responsible for the quality of work-related interactions between other members. This means that triadic communication is only present within family networks. While, the absence of strong interpersonal ties within non-family network fuels the popularity effect, where non-family employees who are perceived to be knowledgeable tend to be approached by others for work-related information.

This study brings to the fore a nuanced perspective that complements our current understanding of the implications of social relationships within family and non-family employee groups on work-related interactions in the workplace. It provides clues on how family and non-family employees identify with the firm through their informal relational embeddedness towards work-related interactions within the organisation.

Family business brand communication depends on the effect of the family on stakeholders' perception, and the family influences stakeholders differently, raising the question of whether family business branding varies across stakeholders. Drawing on social identity theory, this research classifies a family firm's stakeholders into family (in-group) and non-family (out-group) stakeholders and explores the communication of family business brands to these two groups of stakeholders.

Data for this research were gathered from a questionnaire survey of 327 Chinese family firms.

The results show that family business brand communication differs between family and non-family stakeholders. Additionally, family harmony has a positive relationship with family business branding to family stakeholders and an inverse U-shaped relationship with family business branding to non-family stakeholders.

This research is the first to demonstrate that family business brand communication varies across stakeholders and that the effect of family characteristics (family harmony in this research) on family business branding differs between stakeholders. In addition, it expands the scope of the out-group in family firms to embrace all non-family stakeholders and suggests an intergroup opposition between family and non-family stakeholders, which is important for advancing family firm theory.

The study aims to reveal the strategic renewal (SR) of non-family employees in family small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with the effects of transformational board member leadership and psychological ownership (PO) dimensions.

Non-family employees at 82 export and import family firms (FFs) in Vietnam were selected for the study, which used a partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach.

Family board members with transformational leadership (TL) qualities and PO play an essential role in developing non-family employee SR.

The authors grant advanced family roles and relationships knowledge to the renewal and transformation of FFs' strategies and organisational structures.

This paper aims to examine the effects of socio-emotional wealth importance (SEWi) in family firms and family firm-specific HR practices, namely professionalization and bifurcation bias, on their entrepreneurial orientation (EO).

The paper surveyed 133 small and medium-sized family firms in the USA. The respondents were recruited through Prolific Academic.

When SEWi is low, a family firm becomes more similar to a non-family firm, thereby enjoying the benefits associated with EO. When SEWi is high, a family firm leverages the unique resources and capabilities specific to family firms. Moderate SEWi levels are associated with lower EO levels. Additionally, the results support the argument that professionalization (involving non-family managers, formalization and decentralization) fosters EO, while bifurcation bias hinders its development.

Unlike previous studies, this paper posits a non-linear, U-shaped relationship between SEWi and EO. It contributes to the field by empirically investigating the effects of professionalization and bifurcation bias on EO in family firms.