Internationalisation theories and other aspects of this phenomenon have been investigated by researchers to a large extent with respect to MNCs, MNEs and SMEs. However not very much attention has been devoted to the study of the internationalisation of family firms and factors influencing this process. Specifically, in the current era of the third wave of internationalisation, where firms from emerging country markets are internationalising, there has not been sufficient research to investigate, how, when, and why family firms from an emerging country market such as South Africa internationalise. Family firms in South Africa contribute significantly to the economic developments of their nation. They form 80% of businesses within the country and 60% of the firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Therefore, research into the internationalisation of these family firms will not only be beneficial to the South African family businesses investigated, but it will also add valuable knowledge and insight to the internationalisation phenomenon with respect to the nation’s family firms. This study sets out to fill this gap by examining and explaining the internationalisation of South African family firms, and identifying the possible lessons that could be learnt from the internationalised South African family firms by their not yet internationalised counterparts. This research was conducted through a qualitative case study of six South African family firms, out of which three have internationalised and three are yet to internationalise. Face-to-face interviews conducted with the owners and managers, as well as secondary sources of data formed the base of the empirical data analysed. The interview questions were grouped under the concepts of family impact, decision-making, business networks and culture. These concepts were examined and their impact on internationalisation explained. The researchers conclude that chance played the most important role in the internationalisation of the firms. The chance to internationalise however, was made available to these firms through their business networks.

Introduction - Sustainability reporting is becoming more and more important for businesses all around the world. Extant empirical literature investigating the relationship between family status and sustainability reporting provides inconclusive results. No previous studies investigated this association in the Swedish setting. Purpose - The purpose of this study is to investigate how family control and influence affects sustainability reporting behavior of Swedish listed firms. Theoretical framework – Sustainability disclosures are considered as effective means for companies to communicate with their stakeholders. Family firms are more concerned about their internal and external stakeholders in order to protect family’s socioemotional endowments. Methodology design – We use panel data on Swedish listed firms over the period of 2008-2015. We analyze data with random-effects ordered probit regression for panel data. Empirical findings - When we treat all family firms as homogenous, there are no statistically significant differences in the levels of reports of family and non-family firms. However, when we take into account internal contexts of family firms, we find that a family member(s) in top management or a family CEO make family firms more transparent about their sustainability performance. Conclusion – We document that presence of a family top manager(s) or of a family CEO is associated with higher level of details of sustainability reports. Family top managers are more likely to be concerned about internal and external stakeholders to preserve the family’s SEW.

O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar os condicionantes das decisões de investimento das empresas familiares. Para tanto, utilizou-se de um referencial teórico baseado em conceitos como estrutura de propriedade e controle familiar, heterogeneidade das empresas familiares, choques exógenos causados por crises econômicas e situação de restrição financeira. Esses conceitos foram empregues com o propósito de dimensionar seus impactos nas decisões de investimento das empresas familiares listadas em bolsa nos períodos entre 2006-2016. Em termos teóricos, os investimentos foram separados em dois tipos: investimentos em CAPEX e capital circulante líquido. Embora nem todos tenham sido utilizados em todas as fases da pesquisa, esses dois tipos de investimento foram o cerne e a variável dependente da pesquisa. Outras variáveis importantes foram Empresa Familiar, bem como suas outras sete configurações, e as variáveis de interação como idade, grau de maturidade, tamanho, tangibilidade e situação financeira. Outro ponto considerado pela pesquisa foi o impacto do cenário macroeconômico sobre as decisões de investimento. Os resultados encontrados mostraram que as empresas familiares investem menos do que as empresas não familiares em CAPEX, ocorrendo o inverso para o capital circulante líquido. Isso corrobora com as análises teóricas promovidas por Anderson, Duru e Reeb (2012) e Chrisman e Patel (2012) sobre os ideais de autopreservação e aversão ao risco aos quais as empresas familiares estão sujeitas. Quanto aos períodos de choques de liquidez, as empresas familiares apresentaram quedas severas para investimentos em CAPEX e quedas menos acentuadas para o capital circulante líquido. Por fim, em relação à situação de restrição financeira e os resultados financeiros passados evidenciou-se que empresas familiares com maior tangibilidade e com resultados passados positivos investem mais do que as empresas não familiares, o que também está de acordo com a teoria sobre autoconfiança e busca pela perenidade em empresas de controle familiar. / The objective of this study was to answer the following research problem: what are the determinants of the investment decisions of family companies? To do so, the research used a theoretical framework based on concepts such as family ownership and control, the heterogeneity found in the various types of family businesses, exogenous shocks caused by economic crises and the situation of financial constraint of the companies. These concepts were used to understand how each of them impacted the investment decisions of listed companies in the period between 2006-2016. In conceptual terms, the investments were divided into two types: investments in CAPEX and working capital ratios. Although not all were used at all stages of the research, these three types of investment were at the heart and the research-dependent variable. In addition to this variable, other important variables were both the Family Enterprise variable (as well as its other seven configurations) and the variables of interaction with age, maturity level, size, tangibility and financial situation. Another point considered by the research consisted in analyzing how the macroeconomic scenario impacted investment decisions. The results found that family firms invest less than non-family firms (in all configurations) in CAPEX. However, the opposite occurs for the working capital ratios. This corroborates theoretical analyzes promoted by Anderson, Duru and Reeb (2012) and Chrisman and Patel (2012) on the ideals of self-preservation and risk aversion to which family firms are subject to making decisions involving risks and uncertainties. Comparing the results in periods of liquidity shocks, the results of the family companies showed severe declines for investments in CAPEX and less declines in working capital index. Finally, the results found when considering the situation of financial constraint and the past results provided that family companies with greater tangibility and with positive past results invest more than non-family companies, which is also in accordance with the theory on self-preservation and search for perpetuity in family businesses.

Submitted by Nara Lays Domingues Viana Oliveira (naradv) on 2015-07-16T18:32:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TADEU.pdf: 1920392 bytes, checksum: 2d3a9be6b8a3c34155d4ce8ce06acb5a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-16T18:32:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TADEU.pdf: 1920392 bytes, checksum: 2d3a9be6b8a3c34155d4ce8ce06acb5a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-28 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O presente estudo investigou se as companhias abertas familiares, entre 2005 e 2012, possuem criação de valor, desempenho operacional, nível de alavancagem e despesas administrativas diferenciados em relação às empresas não familiares. Também, investigou-se diferenças de performance dentre as empresas familiares sob diferentes modelos de gestão. Os resultados para as variáveis de valor e desempenho demonstraram sensibilidade dependendo do conceito de empresa familiar utilizado. Para as empresas familiares sob o conceito amplo (CF1), os resultados obtidos para criação de valor e desempenho operacional são inferiores as empresas não familiares privadas. Para os demais conceitos de empresa familiar (CF2 e CF3) não há indicativos estatísticos de diferença entre os resultados. Através destes achados, pode-se supor que o controle acionário familiar não majoritário, a divisão do controle da empresa em várias famílias e a ausência do laço da família fundadora com a companhia, prejudique o desempenho das empresas familiares. Na análise dos níveis de alavancagem, os resultados indicam que apenas as empresas familiares em que a família fundadora ainda possua grande influência (CF3) são mais alavancadas. Para a métrica de despesas administrativas, as empresas familiares sob o conceito amplo (CF1) apresentaram maiores gastos em relação as não familiares, evidenciando maior conflito de agência entre os acionistas controladores e minoritários nestas empresas. O modelo de gestão mais eficiente em termos de valor de mercado, para as empresas familiares, é a Gestão Familiar do Fundador. Todos os resultados descritos são confirmados nas análises de Robustez. / The present research investigated if traded family firms, from the period of 2005 to 2012, have creating value, operating performance, leverage and administrative costs differentiated in comparison to non-family firms. Besides it was investigated differences in performance among the family firms in different management models. The results for the variables of value and performance demonstrated sensitivity depending on the concept of family firms used. For family firms under the wider concept (CF1), the results for creating value and operating performance are lower than private non-family companies. For other concepts of family firms (CF2 and CF3) there is no statistical difference between the results. Through these findings it is assumed that the family non majority equity control, the division of the company control in several families and the absence of the founding family in the company, lower the performance of family firms. In the analysis of leverage levels the results indicate that only the family firms where the founding family (CF3) still has great influence are more leveraged. Regarding for the metric of administrative expenses the family firms under the wider concept (CF1) reported higher expenses in relation to the non-family, showing greater agency conflicts between controllers and minority shareholders in these companies. The more efficient model of management in terms of market value for family firms is the Family Management Founder. All results are confirmed in the Robustness analyzes.

研究顯示，家族企業之數量與經濟影響力在全球企業環境中迅速成長並占有一席之地，成為具競爭力的存在，本研究以我國2001至2008年的上市（櫃）公司為樣本，探討財務分析師針對家族與非家族企業在預測行為上之差異，本研究之迴歸模型以分析師預測誤差、追蹤意願及預測離散程度三種特性分析財務分析師的預測行為，研究顯示相較於非家族企業，分析師對家族企業之預測意願較低，追蹤數量明顯較少，在預測結果上，家族企業會使分析師的預測產生較大的誤差，且各分析師間預測結果的差異程度也較大，本研究藉此結果推論家族企業中控制股東與其他股東代理問題的存在，及家族成員擔任管理者或董事等重要職位導致董事會喪失監督職能，在資訊揭露的數量與品質上表現較差。 / Prior research shows that family firms have grown rapidly and played an important role in the global corporate environment. This study examines the relation between family firms and financial analysts’ earnings forecast behaviors in Taiwan from year 2001 to 2008. I use several analysts forecast attributes: forecasts error, number of analysts following, and forecast dispersion. The results indicate that family firms generally have less analysts following, greater analysts’ forecast errors and greater forecast dispersion. These findings support the argument that the existence of conflict between majority and minority shareholders and that family members serving as managers or members of the board may weaken the disclosure of the quantity and quality of firm-specific information.

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.

O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar os condicionantes das decisões de investimento das empresas familiares. Para tanto, utilizou-se de um referencial teórico baseado em conceitos como estrutura de propriedade e controle familiar, heterogeneidade das empresas familiares, choques exógenos causados por crises econômicas e situação de restrição financeira. Esses conceitos foram empregues com o propósito de dimensionar seus impactos nas decisões de investimento das empresas familiares listadas em bolsa nos períodos entre 2006-2016. Em termos teóricos, os investimentos foram separados em dois tipos: investimentos em CAPEX e capital circulante líquido. Embora nem todos tenham sido utilizados em todas as fases da pesquisa, esses dois tipos de investimento foram o cerne e a variável dependente da pesquisa. Outras variáveis importantes foram Empresa Familiar, bem como suas outras sete configurações, e as variáveis de interação como idade, grau de maturidade, tamanho, tangibilidade e situação financeira. Outro ponto considerado pela pesquisa foi o impacto do cenário macroeconômico sobre as decisões de investimento. Os resultados encontrados mostraram que as empresas familiares investem menos do que as empresas não familiares em CAPEX, ocorrendo o inverso para o capital circulante líquido. Isso corrobora com as análises teóricas promovidas por Anderson, Duru e Reeb (2012) e Chrisman e Patel (2012) sobre os ideais de autopreservação e aversão ao risco aos quais as empresas familiares estão sujeitas. Quanto aos períodos de choques de liquidez, as empresas familiares apresentaram quedas severas para investimentos em CAPEX e quedas menos acentuadas para o capital circulante líquido. Por fim, em relação à situação de restrição financeira e os resultados financeiros passados evidenciou-se que empresas familiares com maior tangibilidade e com resultados passados positivos investem mais do que as empresas não familiares, o que também está de acordo com a teoria sobre autoconfiança e busca pela perenidade em empresas de controle familiar. / The objective of this study was to answer the following research problem: what are the determinants of the investment decisions of family companies? To do so, the research used a theoretical framework based on concepts such as family ownership and control, the heterogeneity found in the various types of family businesses, exogenous shocks caused by economic crises and the situation of financial constraint of the companies. These concepts were used to understand how each of them impacted the investment decisions of listed companies in the period between 2006-2016. In conceptual terms, the investments were divided into two types: investments in CAPEX and working capital ratios. Although not all were used at all stages of the research, these three types of investment were at the heart and the research-dependent variable. In addition to this variable, other important variables were both the Family Enterprise variable (as well as its other seven configurations) and the variables of interaction with age, maturity level, size, tangibility and financial situation. Another point considered by the research consisted in analyzing how the macroeconomic scenario impacted investment decisions. The results found that family firms invest less than non-family firms (in all configurations) in CAPEX. However, the opposite occurs for the working capital ratios. This corroborates theoretical analyzes promoted by Anderson, Duru and Reeb (2012) and Chrisman and Patel (2012) on the ideals of self-preservation and risk aversion to which family firms are subject to making decisions involving risks and uncertainties. Comparing the results in periods of liquidity shocks, the results of the family companies showed severe declines for investments in CAPEX and less declines in working capital index. Finally, the results found when considering the situation of financial constraint and the past results provided that family companies with greater tangibility and with positive past results invest more than non-family companies, which is also in accordance with the theory on self-preservation and search for perpetuity in family businesses.

博士（経済学） / 甲第98号 / xiii, 148p / Hitotsubashi University

Background: The Covid-19 crisis has caused limitations that have led to some serious economic consequences around the world. The crisis that is still ongoing has created a complex situation for most economic actors. Every firm has been affected by the crisis in one way or another including family firms, that play a vital role in the global economy. The majority of family firms are family small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), that occupy an enormous proportion of the economy. Considering the evident role of family SMEs, the crisis situation calls with urgency to investigate strategic measures that family SMEs apply in order to survive. Different from all other countries, the Swedish government has implemented the most unorthodox and relaxed restrictions in the world. This created a unique business environment for Swedish firms to operate in. Family SMEs generate 60 percent of value to the non-financial economy, and 65 percent of employment in Sweden. The crucial economical role of family SMEs in Sweden in combination with the unique restrictions, has triggered the urgency to investigate the strategic measures that Swedish family SMEs apply to adapt. Purpose & method: This study aimed to find an answer to the question of what strategic measures are applied by Swedish family SMEs in order to cope with the Covid-19 crisis. This study was executed by conducting qualitative research. 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 7 Swedish family SMEs from the construction, design, building, manufacturing, education and sports industries. The collected data was then sorted and analyzed systematically to generate knowledge, and draw upon conclusions that answer the research question of the study. Conclusions: The findings showed that Swedish family SMEs use a different set of strategic measures in order to cope with the crisis. This study identified five strategic measure combinations which are: three cases of persevering + innovation, 1 case of retrenchment + innovation, 1 case of retrenchment + persevering, one case of retrenchment + persevering + innovation, and one case of pure persevering. It was found that the use of the strategic measures depends on five decisive factors namely, the impact of the crisis on the firms, the industry of the firms, the unique governmental restrictions, the preparedness of the firms for crisis and the development of the strategic measures through time. One interesting result was that all the firms in the sample have benefited financially from the crisis in the long-run, despite the challenges regarding supply chain disruptions.

The research project empirically assesses the influence of an under-researched aspect of social capital on the family firm’s entrepreneurial behaviors. Specifically, blending social capital, which consists of bonding social capital and bridging social capital that develops between family firms and external family stakeholders, is considered in examining the family firm’s engagement in innovation efforts. Additionally, familial tie strength and outside business ownership of external family stakeholders are argued to moderate the proposed relationship between blending social capital and family firm innovation. The surveying methods for assessing the hypothesized relationships included conducting a two-wave study with adapted, modified, and validated scales. Also, some variables were collected using the Mississippi Secretary of State, the U.S. Copyright Office, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey databases. The theoretical model is analyzed using hierarchical regression and moderated regression using IBM SPSS 28 Process Macro (Hayes, 2021), structural equation modeling with AMOS, and scale development techniques to ensure the validity and reliability of the measurement instruments. The goal is to identify potential antecedents for enhancing the innovation capabilities of family firms.