Familienunternehmen und KMU

Transcription

1 Familienunternehmen und KMU Edited by A. Hack, Berne A. Calabrò, Witten/Herdecke H. Frank, Vienna F. W. Kellermanns, Charlotte, Vallendar T. Zellweger, St. Gallen

2 Both Family Firms and Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME) feature a number of distinct behaviors and characteristics which could provide them with a competitive advantage in the market but could also lead to certain risks. The scientific series at hand presents research which provides an empirical and theoretical contribution to the investigation on these specific characteristics and their impact on business practice. The overall aim of this series is to advance the development of theory in the areas of family firm and SME management. Edited by Professor Dr. Andreas Hack University of Berne Professor Dr. Hermann Frank Vienna University of Economics and Business Professor Dr. Thomas Zellweger University of St. Gallen Professor Dr. Andrea Calabrò University of Witten/Herdecke Professor Franz W. Kellermanns, Ph.D. University of North Carolina Charlotte WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management Vallendar, Germany

3 Annika Geyer The Growth Behavior of Family Firms Theoretical and Empirical Elaborations Foreword by Prof. Dr. Andreas Hack

4 Annika Geyer Berlin, Germany Dissertation Witten/Herdecke University, 2015 Familienunternehmen und KMU ISBN DOI / ISBN (ebook) Library of Congress Control Number: Springer Gabler Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer Gabler imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH

5 To my beloved husband, Olaf Geyer, and my family, Inge, Wolfgang and Isabel Willems, who always believed in me. Thank you for all your love, encouragement and support.

6 Foreword VII Foreword Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell (Edward Abbey) The traditional growth ideology of companies in market economies has been subject to increasing criticism and is often associated with negative effects on employees, suppliers and even society as a whole. And yet, healthy and responsible growth is an important pillar for a company's prosperity and the prosperity of its stakeholders, and thus serves as an essential buttress for the economy as a whole. The quote above however clearly shows that the motivation behind the respective intentions of growth are extremely important when it comes to defining "cancerous" growth in contrast to healthy growth. Healthy family firms are said to handle their resources and deal with their stakeholders in a particularly responsible manner. Thus, their growth and especially their intentions of growth can also be expected to be very different from those of firms held by anonymous public owners. So far, empirical research has exclusively focused on comparing growth in family firms with that of non-family firms, and conclusions have varied greatly. Depending on the context, higher growth rates are shown in family firms but the majority of studies has come to the conclusion that their growth is actually below average by comparison. Initial attempts to explain this effect point towards the fact that family firms cannot grow as fast since they are managed less professionally. However, potentially deviating growth intentions were not discussed in this context. This is where the considerations of Annika Geyer begin. She does not settle for the overly simplistic "explanation of the degree of professionalism" but takes a more ambitious and complex look at the question to what extent entrepreneurial families and their representatives in the company want to grow, if at all wittingly or unwittingly. For this purpose, she develops an extremely multi-faceted and well-informed overall picture of the factors which influence strategic growth decisions on the basis of the Upper Echelon Theory and the Theory

7 VIII Foreword of Planned Behavior. The result is a picture of the behavioural tendencies of decision-makers in family firms which goes far beyond the understanding which dominates literature on the subject. This draft of a theoretical basis for discussion distinguishes the present work from its counterparts and will serve as the foundation for further discussions in the research community in the next years. However, Ms Geyer does not settle for the mere development of this sophisticated theoretical framework model. As an excellent researcher with a distinct eye for real phenomena, she dares to establish the first empirical analysis regarding the reasons for differences in the intentions of growth of family firms. For this purpose, she interviewed almost 400 corporate leaders about their motive structures and intentions. In doing so, she establishes a connection between these individuals and possible factors of influence such as the affiliation to or the power structure within the entrepreneurial family. A profound picture results, from which the heterogeneity of the type of a family company clearly emerges. Simplistic statements such as "family firms grow more slowly" or "family firms are more conservative" are thus shown to be untrue. The present work offers everything an excellent dissertation needs: (1) high motivation to dive deeper into unsolved and/or ambivalent phenomena, (2) the thoughtfulness to combine and expand theoretical models in order to master the heterogeneity of practice, and (3) the willingness to subject one's own theoretical ideas to a crucial test in practice in order to prove their applicability and usefulness. Thus, this book is highly recommended not only for research enthusiasts but especially for members of entrepreneurial families wishing to obtain deeper insights into their own decision-making structures and influencing factors, so as to be able to define future strategical directions in a more conscious manner. Prof. Dr. Andreas Hack

8 Acknowledgments IX Acknowledgments This dissertation is the result of an inspiring, intense and sometimes also challenging journey. Looking back, I am very grateful for this amazing experience. Yet, such an undertaking would not have been possible without the support, guidance and efforts of a lot of people. Therefore, I would like to explicitly thank all of the people who contributed to it. First, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Prof. Dr. Andreas Hack, for the outstanding support and guidance, and his confidence in my research work. His deep commitment and professional expertise made this experience truly unique and inspiring for me. During the whole period he was always approachable and invested a significant amount of time into discussions and working sessions to develop my research further. In addition, I would like to thank my second advisor, Prof Dr. Arist von Schlippe, for always being responsive and helpful in any enquiry. Especially the research colloquium sessions at the Witten Institute for Family Business (WIFU) helped me to gain interesting new insights and perspectives that enriched my research work. Further, I am grateful to Dr. Nils Kraiczy for helping me to find my way through the jungle of statistical methods. Our "boot camp" session in Berne as well as the ongoing support and discussions were extremely helpful. A number of fellow doctoral students were of particular importance for me during this period of time. For the various fruitful discussions and the experience-sharing my special thanks go to Leonie Maria Fittko, Jörg Schäfer, Julia-Carolin Schmid and Anke Skopec. I would also like to thank my parents, Inge and Wolfgang, as well as my sister, Isabel, for their unconditional love, support and encouragement. Allowing me to enjoy an excellent education and never losing faith in me, they ultimately paved the way that enabled me to pursue this path.

9 X Acknowledgments Above all, I am deeply grateful to my beloved husband Olaf. It was his confidence and encouragement that ultimately determined my decision to write this dissertation. During the project it was his unconditional love, encouraging words and sustained support that cheered me up when I felt down, brought back my faith when I lost it and provided me with new ideas when I felt like being stuck in a dead end. This journey would not have been the same without him. Annika Geyer

10 Table of Contents XI Table of Contents Foreword... VII Acknowledgments... IX Table of Contents... XI List of Figures... XV List of Tables... XVII List of Abbreviations... XIX 1 Introduction Motivation and research gap Research goals Definition of a family firm Structure of the dissertation Variations in strategic choices concerning firm growth a conceptual framework and its application to the context of family businesses Abstract Introduction Theoretical basis Upper echelon theory Evolution of the original upper echelon theory Later refinements of the upper echelon theory Theory of planned behavior Evolution of the theory of planned behavior The theory of reasoned action Current status of the reasoned action approach The theory of planned behavior A model of individual growth intentions and their influence on strategic choices concerning firm growth CEOs and strategic choices concerning firm growth The central role of individual growth intentions The formation of individual growth intentions Variations in individual growth intentions and their influence on strategic choices concerning firm growth in the context of family businesses The formation and variation of CEOs' growth intentions The influence of the organizational situation and the social environment The influence of the executive's individual characteristics

11 XII Table of Contents The individual influence of CEOs' growth intentions on the firm's strategic choices concerning growth Environmental factors as a source of managerial discretion Organizational factors as a source of managerial discretion Individual managerial characteristics as a source of managerial discretion Discussion and conclusion Limitations and future research directions Research methodology and empirical basis Construction of the sample Method The influence of executives' membership in the FB owner-family on firm growth the central role of individual growth intentions Abstract Introduction Theoretical development and hypotheses Executives, growth intentions and family firms' actual growth The immediate determinants of growth intentions Executives' membership in the FB owner-family and its effect on the immediate determinants of growth intentions Methods Sample Measures Dependent variables Independent variable Control variables Data analysis Results Measurement model analysis Structural model analysis Discussion and implications Theoretical implications Practical implications Limitations and future research directions Conclusion Family decision makers in FBs, their growth intentions and actual firm growth: The influence of different levels of family and personal involvement in the firm Abstract

12 Table of Contents XIII 5.2 Introduction Theoretical development and hypotheses Family decision makers growth intentions, their immediate determinants and family firms' actual growth Different levels of family as well as personal involvement in the firm and their effect on decision makers' subjective norms and perceived behavioral control concerning family firm growth The effect of different levels of family involvement The effect of different levels of family decision makers' personal involvement Methods Sample Measures Dependent variables Independent variables Control variables Data analysis Results Measurement model analysis Structural model analysis Discussion and implications Theoretical implications Practical implications Limitations and future research directions Conclusion Concluding discussion Summary of findings Theoretical implications Practical implications Limitations and future research directions Reference List

13 List of Figures XV List of Figures Figure 1-1: Structure of the dissertation Figure 2-1: Strategic choice under bounded rationality: The executive's construed reality Figure 2-2: An upper echelons perspective of organizations Figure 2-3: The theory of reasoned action Figure 2-4: The theory of planned behavior Figure 2-5: A model of individual growth intentions and their influence on strategic choices concerning firm growth Figure 2-6: Employed CEO classification criteria Figure 2-7: Four different types of CEOs Figure 2-8: Structure of theoretical propositions Figure 2-9: Structure of theoretical propositions The influence of the organizational situation Figure 2-10: Structure of theoretical propositions The influence of the social environment Figure 2-11: Structure of theoretical propositions The influence of the executive's observable characteristics Figure 2-12: Structure of theoretical propositions The influence of the executive's personal attitudes Figure 2-13: The set of relevant background factors with potentially significant impact on CEO's individual growth intentions in the family business context Figure 2-14: Structure of theoretical propositions Environmental factors as a source of managerial discretion

14 XVI List of Figures Figure 2-15: Structure of theoretical propositions Organizational factors as a source of managerial discretion Figure 2-16: Structure of theoretical propositions Individual managerial characteristics as a source of managerial discretion Figure 2-17: The relevant sources of CEOs' respective degree of managerial discretion Figure 3-1: Overview regional and firm size distribution: Chosen sample vs. total population Figure 3-2: Chosen sample population, valid responses, and final data samples Figure 4-1: Hypotheses model The influence of executives' membership in the FB owner-family on individual growth intention and actual firm growth Figure 4-2: Descriptive statistics 401 respondents Firm growth Figure 4-3: Standardized path loadings for the final structural model Figure 5-1: Hypotheses model The effect of different levels of family and decision maker's personal involvement on individual growth intention and actual firm growth Figure 5-2: Descriptive statistics 352 respondents Firm growth Figure 5-3: Standardized path loadings for the final structural model

15 List of Tables XVII List of Tables Table 3-1: Control measures for model fit Table 4-1: Descriptive statistics 401 respondents Firm size Table 4-2: Descriptive statistics 401 respondents Industry Table 4-3: Descriptive statistics 401 respondents Firm growth versus competitors Table 4-4: Control measures for construct validity and reliability Table 4-5: Overview constructs and employed latent variables Table 4-6: Descriptive statistics and correlations 401 respondents Table 4-7: Goodness-of-fit results for the measurement and the structural model Table 4-8: Summary of hypotheses Table 5-1: Descriptive statistics 352 respondents Firm size Table 5-2: Descriptive statistics 352 respondents Industry Table 5-3: Descriptive statistics 352 respondents Firm growth versus competitors Table 5-4: Descriptive statistics 352 respondents Owner-family's involvement in the family firm Table 5-5: Overview constructs and employed latent variables Table 5-6: Descriptive statistics and correlations 352 respondents Table 5-7: Goodness-of-fit results for the measurement and the structural model Table 5-8: Summary of hypotheses

16 List of Abbreviations XIX List of Abbreviations CEO CFA CFI df EFA e.g. FB FIBER F-PEC GFI IFI NFB NFI n.s. OECD RMR RMSEA SEM SEW SMEs SRMR TMT TPB Chief executive officer Confirmatory factor analysis Comparative fit index Degrees of freedom Exploratory factor analysis exempli gratia (for example) Family business Family control and influence, Identification of family members with the firm, Binding social ties, Emotional attachment of family members, and Renewal of family bonds to the firm through dynastic succession Family- Power, Experience, and Culture Goodness-of-fit index Incremental fit index Non-family business Normed fit index Not significant Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Root mean square residual Root mean square error of approximation Structural equation modeling Socioemotional wealth Small and medium sized enterprises Standardized root mean square residual Top management team Theory of planned behavior

17 XX List of Abbreviations TRA UET Theory of reasoned action Upper echelon theory χ² Chi-square statistic (χ²)/df