QH MH IJEBR Fam Firm Rad Innovation - ACCEPTED.pdf (569.31 kB)
Radical innovation in family firms: a systematic analysis and research agenda
journal contribution
posted on 2020-03-04, 10:39 authored by Qilin Hu, Mathew HughesPurpose – Investigation of family firm radical innovation is burgeoning but far less prevalent than studies of family firm innovation in general. Concurrently, studies repeatedly report that family firms exhibit mostly conservative and incremental innovation rather than more radical ones. This is unfortunate because without radical innovation, family firms risk a competency trap in which long-term competitiveness is lost to more innovative rivals. This situation has led to urgent calls among scholars to explicitly acknowledge the heterogeneity of family firm innovation and to understand the conditions for family firm radical innovation.
Design/methodology/approach – A systematic review of 51 papers categorized into four scholarly conversations build the foundation for a critical discussion of each line of inquiry.
Findings – The authors analyze 51 leading articles and identify four persistent theoretical positions: (1) RBV and capabilities, (2) agency and stewardship, (3) behavioral agency and socioemotional wealth, and (4) the ability and willingness paradox. The authors identify key research problems and research questions needing urgent scholarly and present a framework that captures their complementary and competing assumptions to enable rigorous future research.
Originality/value – To galvanize and spearhead future research efforts, this paper provides a critical analysis of our understanding of family firm radical innovation with a specific emphasis on the theoretical assumptions at the core of existing investigations and the eight most important research questions in need of answers.
Design/methodology/approach – A systematic review of 51 papers categorized into four scholarly conversations build the foundation for a critical discussion of each line of inquiry.
Findings – The authors analyze 51 leading articles and identify four persistent theoretical positions: (1) RBV and capabilities, (2) agency and stewardship, (3) behavioral agency and socioemotional wealth, and (4) the ability and willingness paradox. The authors identify key research problems and research questions needing urgent scholarly and present a framework that captures their complementary and competing assumptions to enable rigorous future research.
Originality/value – To galvanize and spearhead future research efforts, this paper provides a critical analysis of our understanding of family firm radical innovation with a specific emphasis on the theoretical assumptions at the core of existing investigations and the eight most important research questions in need of answers.
History
School
- Business and Economics
Department
- Business
Published in
International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and ResearchVolume
26Issue
6Pages
1199-1234Publisher
EmeraldVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Rights holder
© Emerald Publishing LimitedPublisher statement
This paper was accepted for publication in the journal International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research and the definitive published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-11-2019-0658.Acceptance date
2020-03-03Publication date
2020-05-05Copyright date
2020ISSN
1355-2554Publisher version
Language
- en
Depositor
Prof Mat Hughes. Deposit date: 3 March 2020Usage metrics
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