Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2009.

O objetivo deste estudo foi responder ao seguinte problema de pesquisa: o que faz os conselhos de empresas familiares serem efetivos em decisões estratégicas? Para tanto, foi adotada a abordagem configuracional, uma vez que existem múltiplas formas de se chegar à efetividade nas decisões estratégicas. Em termos conceituais, as decisões estratégicas foram consideradas efetivas quando alcançaram ou superaram os resultados previamente estabelecidos pelos tomadores de decisão. Em relação às empresas familiares, estas foram definidas a partir da riqueza sócioemocional (SEW) que consiste na importância atribuída pelos tomadores de decisão aos benefícios não econômicos gerados à família a partir da empresa. As dimensões da SEW combinadas com os papéis e processos psicossociais dos conselhos de administração geram diferentes configurações que levam à efetividade nas decisões estratégicas. Para demonstrar esse argumento, foram coletados dados de 59 empresas familiares no Brasil por meio de uma pesquisa do tipo survey. Os respondentes foram conselheiros que participaram de uma decisão estratégica nessas empresas. Os resultados mostram que existem múltiplas formas de se chegar à efetividade nas decisões estratégicas. Dentre os fatores preponderantes, o papel de controle e mediação são condições necessárias, assim como o uso de conhecimento e habilidade dos conselheiros e o conflito congnitivo. Também é possível identificar três diferentes perfis de empresa a partir da SEW. A primeira atribui pouca importância à continuidade da família no negócio em suas decisões; a segunda não atribui importância à proeminência familiar; e a terceira considera todos os atribuitos da SEW em suas decisões. Mesmo com pontos de referência diferentes, essas empresas conseguem ser efetivas em suas decisões estratégicas. Esta pesquisa tem implicações teóricas e práticas, especialmente, por reforçar a tese de que não existe uma única forma de se chegar a um resultado e que a efetividade dos conselhos de administração vai além do desepenho das funções de controle e serviço, estando ligada à capacidade de tomar decisões efetivas. / The objective of this study was to answer the following research question: What do make the board of directors of family firms be effective in strategic decisions? Therefore, the configurational approach was adopted, since there are multiple ways of achieving effectiveness in strategic decisions. Conceptually, strategic decisions were considered effective when reached or exceeded the results previously established by the decision makers. In relation to family firms, they were defined based on sociometional wealth (SEW), which consists of the importance attached by decision-makers to the non-economic benefits generated to the family from the company\'s operations. The dimensions of SEW combined with the roles and psychosocial processes of boards of directors generate different configurations that lead to effectiveness in strategic decisions. To demonstrate this, a survey with 59 family firms was carried out in Brazil. The respondents were board members who participated in a strategic decision-making in these firms. The results show that there are multiple ways to achieve effectiveness in strategic decisions. Among the core factors, the roles of control and mediation are necessary conditions, as well as the use of knowledge and skills and cognitive conflict. It is also possible to identify three different family business profiles from SEW. The first attaches little importance to family continuity in the business in their decisions, the second does not give importance to family prominence, and the third considers all SEW atributes in their decisions. Even with different reference points, these firms can be effective in their strategic decisions. This research has theoretical and practical implications, especially for reinforcing the argument that there is no single way to achieve a result, and the effectiveness of boards of directors goes beyond the control and service functions, being linked to the strategic decision effectiveness

Der Anteil der externen Nachfolge bei eigentümergeführten bzw. Familienunternehmen nimmt stetig zu. Eine Möglichkeit ist dabei ein Management-Buy-In, bei dem ein externer Manager die Position des Altinhabers übernimmt. In einer solchen Situation kann die Nachfolge in Form einer Relay Succession erfolgen, eine zeitlich gestaffelte Übergabe vom alten an den neuen Inhaber. In dieser Arbeit werden die Relay Succession, ihre Vor- und Nachteile, relevante Einflussfaktoren und Prozessempfehlungen in qualitativen Fallstudien untersucht.:Vorwort … II Inhaltsverzeichnis … III Abbildungsverzeichnis … VIII Tabellenverzeichnis … IX Abkürzungsverzeichnis … X 1 Einleitung … 1 2 Management-Buy-In bei eigentümergeführten Unternehmen … 6 2.1 Definition eigentümergeführter Unternehmen und Familienunternehmen in dieser Untersuchung … 7 2.2 Wirtschaftliche Bedeutung … 9 2.3 Bedeutung des Geschäftsführers und seiner Nachfolge … 13 2.4 Externe Nachfolge in eigentümergeführten Familienunternehmen … 16 3 Aktuelle Forschung … 27 3.1 Rahmengebende Forschungsfelder … 28 3.2 Zusammenfassende Beurteilung der theoretischen Grundlagen … 66 4 Untersuchungsmethode und empirische Betrachtung … 80 4.1 Qualitativer Fallstudienansatz … 80 4.2 Selektion und Akquirierung von Fallstudienkandidaten … 85 4.3 Interviewführung und fortlaufende Auswertung … 89 4.4 Datenanalyse und Hypothesengenerierung … 97 4.5 Sicherstellung der Reliabilität und Validität der Fallstudienuntersuchung … 102 5 Beschreibung und individuelle Beurteilung („within analysis“) der Fallstudien … 107 5.1 Fallstudie Fenster … 107 5.2 Fallstudie Karton … 114 5.3 Fallstudie Kunststoff … 121 5.4 Fallstudie Logistik … 131 5.5 Fallstudie Medizin … 140 5.6 Fallstudie Metall … 147 5.7 Fallstudie Möbel … 157 5.8 Fallstudie Netzwerk … 166 5.9 Fallstudie Präsentation … 174 5.10 Fallstudie Zahn … 181 6 Übergreifende Diskussion („cross-case analysis“) … 188 6.1 Ergebnisse … 189 7 Fazit … 241 7.1 Zusammenfassung … 241 7.2 Implikationen für die Praxis … 243 7.3 Einschränkungen und Grenzen … 247 7.4 Zukünftiger Forschungsbedarf … 249 A Appendix … A-I Literaturverzeichnis … A-XLIX

Familjeföretag utgör 65-80 procent av alla världens företag och har spelat en nyckelroll i moderniseringen av ekonomin i världens länder. Kapitalstruktur är ett väl utforskat område, men trots detta är det svårt att exakt avgöra vad som driver företag i sina beslut gällande kapitalstruktur. Få studier har genomförts som specifikt fokuserar på kapitalstrukturen i familjeföretag, vilket ligger till grund för den här studien. Denna studie undersöker huruvida det finns några skillnader avseende kapitalstruktur mellan familjeföretag och icke-familjeföretag på den svenska börsen. Även huruvida skuldsättningsgraden påverkas av andra faktorer undersöks. Genom att använda en handplockad datamängd bestående av 205 noterade svenska företag under år 2012 har vi kommit fram till följande resultat: Svenska noterade familjeföretag skuldsätter sig mindre än svenska icke-familjeföretag. Angående huruvida det finns faktorer som påverkar skuldsättningsgraden kan vi visa att det finns ett positivt beroende mellan skuldsättningsgrad och följande två variabler: lönsamhet och andel materiella anläggningstillgångar. Att ett positivt beroende råder mellan skuldsättningsgrad och dessa två variabler visar att ju lönsammare eller ju mer materiella anläggningstillgångar ett företag har, desto högre tenderar skuldsättningsgraden att vara. Dock hittades inget beroende mellan skuldsättningsgrad och företagets storlek. Utifrån den teoretiska referensramen ges möjliga förklaringar till det erhållna resultatet och i vissa fall agerar inte alltid företagen i likhet med vad kapitalstruktursteorierna förespråkar. Sammantaget visar vår studie att det finns en signifikant skillnad mellan svenska börsnoterade familjeföretag och icke-familjeföretag avseende deras val av kapitalstruktur samt att det finns faktorer som påverkar skuldsättningsgraden. / Family firms represent 65-80 percent of the entire world’s business and they have played a key role in modernizing the economy of the world’s countries. Capital structure is a well-explored area, but despite this, it ́s difficult to determine exactly what drives companies in their decisions regarding capital structure. Few studies have been conducted that specifically focuses on the capital structure in family firms, which is the basis of this study. This study examines whether there are any differences regarding capital structure between family firms and non- family firms on the Swedish stock exchange. Even whether the leverage ratio is influenced by other factors examined. Using a hand-collected dataset of 205 listed Swedish companies in 2012, we come up with the following results: Swedish listed family firms have lower leverage ratios than non-family firms. Regarding whether there are factors that affect the leverage ratio, we can show that there is a positive relationship between leverage and the following two variables: profitability and tangible assets. That a positive relationship exists between leverage and these two variables shows that the more profitable or the more tangible assets a company has, the higher the leverage ratio tends to be. However, no relationship between leverage and firm size where found. Based on the theoretical framework possible explanations for the obtained result is provided, and in some cases the companies does not always act similar to what the capital structure theories advocates. Overall, our study shows that there is a significant difference between the Swedish listed family firms and non-family firms regarding their choice of capital structure and that there are factors that affect the level of leverage.

Le aziende a controllo familiare sono considerate in molti Paesi la struttura proprietaria dominante, e la ricerca accademica si è progressivamente concentrata negli ultimi decenni sugli aspetti peculiari che differenziano le aziende familiari dalle altre strutture proprietarie. Nonostante questa convergenza, molti studi hanno sviluppato teorie contrastanti, in modo particolare sulla capacità delle aziende familiari di generare performance finanziarie superiori. Di converso, pochi studi hanno concentrato l’attenzione sulle scelte strategiche che posso spiegare il (maggiore o minore) differenziale di performance delle aziende familiari. Partendo dall’assunto che punti di forza e di debolezza possano coesistere nelle aziende familiari, identificare se siano gli uni o gli altri a prevalere è una sfida complessa se non si prendono in considerazione le scelte strategiche effettuate dalle aziende familiari. Partendo da questo gap nella letteratura, il presente lavoro cerca di misurare l’impatto che la proprietà familiare può avere sulle performance aziendali concentrandosi su tre aspetti principali della strategia d’impresa: il livello di conformità strategico alla media di settore (mediante la creazione di un indice che approssima le principali determinanti della business strategy), l’avvio di un processo di internazionalizzazione attraverso investimenti diretti esteri (IDE), e le implicazioni delle strategie di acquisizione. / The family business is widely considered the dominant property structure around the world and the research on this field has increased rapidly in the last decades to understand whether and in which aspects family firms differ from other organizations. Despite this convergence, the actual body of research on family firms is populated by conflicting theories and findings, especially on the relationship with financial performance. On the other hand, few studies focus their attention on which strategic choices may explain the financial differences between family firms and non-family peers. Starting from this research gap, we think that both positive and negative aspects may coexist in family firms, and it would be difficult to identify which predominate without considering how family principals frame strategic decisions. In our thesis, we try to disentangle the effect of family ownership on firm performance focusing on three main aspects of firm strategy: the level of strategic conformity through the creation of a composite index (in which we incorporated six items that can be considered as key determinants of the business strategy), the departure of the internationalization process through foreign direct investments (FDI), and the implications of acquisition strategies.

This cumulative dissertation covers the concepts of scenario-based strategic planning and strategic management in family firms over five articles. The first article gives an overview of the cumulative dissertation explaining the research gap, approach and contribution of the dissertation. The paper highlights the two research areas covered by the dissertation with two articles focusing on scenario-based strategic planning and two on strategic management in family firms. The second article is the first of two focusing on scenario-based strategic planning. It introduces and describes a set of six tools facilitating the implementation of scenario-based strategic planning in corporate practice. The third paper adapts these tools to the financial management and controlling context in private companies highlighting the tools’ flexibility in managing uncertain and volatile environments. The fourth article is the first of two focusing on strategic management in family firms. It analyzes organizational ambidexterity as a factor explaining family firm performance. The article shows that a high level of organizational ambidexterity in family firms leads to a higher family firm performance. The final paper concludes the dissertation examining the tendency of family firms to focus on capability exploration or resource exploitation over different generations managing the family firm.

Il presente lavoro, riconoscendo la rilevanza che le aziende familiari detengono all’interno del contesto internazionale, con particolare riferimento a quello italiano, si propone di analizzare la loro propensione verso l’implementazione della strategia di acquisizione. In particolare lo studio, composto da tre paper tra loro connessi, è volto a delineare una “fotografia” del tessuto imprenditoriale italiano rilevando le caratteristiche delle aziende familiari e della tipologia delle operazioni di crescita per via esterna da queste conseguite. Inoltre, la ricerca fornisce delle comparazioni con le operazioni svolte dalle imprese non familiari così da comprenderne similitudini e differenze evidenziando come la partecipazione della famiglia proprietaria, sia in termini di proprietà che di gestione, incida sulla predisposizione ad acquisire. Il primo paper indaga l’attitudine delle imprese familiari e non familiari ad acquisire, mostrando tipologie e caratteristiche delle operazioni di crescita per via esterna da queste conseguite nel periodo 2000 – 2014. Il secondo lavoro, approfondito il ruolo della distanza culturale ed economica tra acquirente ed acquisita, verifica se le aziende familiari hanno economicamente beneficiato dell’implementazione della strategia di crescita per via esterna. Il terzo contributo analizza come le differenti modalità e livelli di coinvolgimento diretto della famiglia alla vita d’impresa incida sulla predisposizione ad acquisire. / The aim of this work, which recognizes the importance of family-owned firms in the international environment – focusing in particular on the Italian context – is to analyze their propensity to implement the acquisition strategy. The study, composed of three interrelated papers, is intended to “take a picture” of the Italian entrepreneurial fabric, by detecting the features of family firms and the type of growth operations through acquisitions. Furthermore, this research outlines comparisons with the operations led by non family firms, in order to understand similarities and differences by highlighting how the role of family owner, both in terms of property and management, influences the propensity to acquire.  The first paper examines the propensity of family and non family firms to acquire, showing the types and features of the growth operations through acquisitions in the timeframe 2000 - 2014. The second paper, after studying in depth the role of the cultural and economic distance between the acquirer and target, checks whether family firms benefitted from the implementation of acquisition. The third paper analyses the influence of the several implementation procedures and the level of direct involvement of the family in the life of the firms on the propensity to acquire.

This cumulative dissertation covers the concepts of scenario-based strategic planning and strategic management in family firms over five articles. The first article gives an overview of the cumulative dissertation explaining the research gap, approach and contribution of the dissertation. The paper highlights the two research areas covered by the dissertation with two articles focusing on scenario-based strategic planning and two on strategic management in family firms. The second article is the first of two focusing on scenario-based strategic planning. It introduces and describes a set of six tools facilitating the implementation of scenario-based strategic planning in corporate practice. The third paper adapts these tools to the financial management and controlling context in private companies highlighting the tools’ flexibility in managing uncertain and volatile environments. The fourth article is the first of two focusing on strategic management in family firms. It analyzes organizational ambidexterity as a factor explaining family firm performance. The article shows that a high level of organizational ambidexterity in family firms leads to a higher family firm performance. The final paper concludes the dissertation examining the tendency of family firms to focus on capability exploration or resource exploitation over different generations managing the family firm.:I. SCENARIO-BASED STRATEGIC PLANNING AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT IN FAMILY FIRMS … 1 1. Research question and goal of the dissertation … 2 2. Summary of papers … 8 2.1. Contribution … 12 2.2. Implications and further research … 16 II. SIX TOOLS FOR SCENARIO-BASED STRATEGIC PLANNING AND THEIR APPLICATION … 25 1. Introducing tools one and two: The framing checklist and 360° stakeholder feedback … 27 1.1. The framing checklist … 27 1.2. Description of the framing checklist … 29 1.3. 360° stakeholder feedback … 36 1.3.1. Existing perceptions, blind spots and weak signals … 37 1.3.2. Description of 360° stakeholder feedback … 38 1.4. Evaluation of the framing checklist and 360° stakeholder feedback … 44 2. Applying frameworks one and two: The framing checklist and 360° stakeholder feedback in the European airline industry … 46 2.1. Introduction … 46 2.2. The framing checklist … 46 2.3. 360° stakeholder feedback … 48 3. Introducing tools three and four: The impact/uncertainty grid and the scenario matrix … 53 3.1. The impact/uncertainty grid … 53 3.2. Description of the impact/uncertainty grid … 55 3.3. The scenario matrix … 57 3.4. Description of the scenario matrix … 62 3.5. Evaluating the impact/uncertainty grid and the scenario matrix … 67 4. Applying frameworks three and four: The impact/uncertainty grid and the scenario matrix in the European airline industry … 69 4.1. Introduction … 69 4.2. The impact/uncertainty grid … 69 4.3. The scenario matrix … 71 5. Introducing tools five and six: The strategy manual and the monitoring cockpit … 87 5.1. Introduction … 87 5.2. The strategy manual … 87 5.3. Description of the strategy manual … 91 5.4. The scenario cockpit … 95 5.5. Description of the scenario cockpit … 96 5.6. Evaluating the strategy manual and the scenario cockpit ..................... 99 6. Applying frameworks five and six: The strategy manual and the scenario cockpit in the European airline industry … 102 6.1. The strategy manual … 102 6.2. The scenario cockpit … 105 III. SZENARIOBASIERTE STRATEGISCHE PLANUNG IN VOLATILEN UMFELDERN … 111 1. Einführung: Unternehmen agieren in einer zunehmend volatilen Umwelt … 112 2. Volatilität als Herausforderung für die strategische Planung … 112 3. Szenariobasierte strategische Planung als Lösungsansatz für Planung unter Volatilität …114 3.1. Grundlagen der szenariobasierten strategischen Planung … 114 3.2. Prozess der szenariobasierten strategischen Planung … 115 4. Zusammenfassung ... 122 IV. ORGANIZATIONAL AMBIDEXTERITY AND FAMILY FIRM PERFORMANCE … 125 1. Introduction … 126 2. Theory and Hypotheses … 127 3. Methodology … 131 3.1. Research Design and Sample Generation … 131 3.2. Measures … 133 4. Analysis and Results … 135 5. Discussion and Conclusion … 139 V. THE IMPACT OF SUCCESOR GENERATION DISCOUNT IN FAMILY FIRMS: EXAMINING NONLINEAR EFFECTS ON EXPLORATION AND EXPLOITATION … 150 1. Introduction … 151 2. The RBV and the importance of exploration and exploitation … 154 3. The importance of exploration and exploitation in family firms … 156 4. The impact of generational involvement on exploration and exploitation in family firms … 159 5. Methodology … 164 5.1. Constructs … 165 5.2. Results … 167 6. Discussion … 172 6.1. Implications for theory and practice … 175 6.2. Study limitations and future research … 176 6.3. Conclusion … 177

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