The role of familial socio-political forces on new venture creation in family business
Cross Cultural & Strategic Management
ISSN: 2059-5794
Article publication date: 17 August 2018
Issue publication date: 31 October 2018
Abstract
Purpose
New venture (NV) creation is critical to the growth and long-term survival of business groups. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the NV creation process in family business (FB) context and examine the influence of familial socio-political considerations and dynamics on venture creation processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper employs a triangulation technique drawing from the extant literature, observations from 25 in-depth interviews of FB leaders and insights from two FB practitioners and abductive reasoning to theorize on the NV creation process and the influence of socio-political considerations and dynamics within family.
Findings
The results show that there are four distinct stages of the NV creation process in FB context. Familial socio-political considerations and dynamics greatly influence the NV creation process. These considerations and dynamics vary according to the socio-political clout enjoyed by the proposer. Leadership’s predisposition to the proposer and the proposer’s socio-political clout in the family determine whether an NV proposal leads to venture creation.
Research limitations/implications
The study extends NV creation literature by suggesting that in addition to the economic rationale, socio-political considerations play a critical role in venture creation decisions. Future research can validate the findings with quantitative analysis.
Practical implications
FB members must garner strong socio-political support for their NV proposal. FB leaders must ensure that their NV proposal evaluation and resource allocation decisions are not unduly influenced by the proposer’s socio-political clout.
Originality/value
The study views the NV creation process in FB context from the lens of familial forces at play. It identifies four distinct stages of the NV creation process and examines the role played by familial socio-political considerations and dynamics during each stage.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper forms part of a special section: “Transgenerational entrepreneurship in the global world”.
Citation
Bhatnagar, N., Ramachandran, K. and Ray, S. (2018), "The role of familial socio-political forces on new venture creation in family business", Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 550-577. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCSM-06-2017-0075
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited