Motivation Gaps and Implementation Traps: The Paradoxical and Time-Varying Effects of Family Ownership on Firm Absorptive Capacity |
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Authors: | Josip Kotlar Alfredo De Massis Federico Frattini Nadine Kammerlander |
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Institution: | Address correspondence to: Federico Frattini, Politecnico di Milano, School of Management, Via R. Lambruschini 4/B, 20156 Milano, Italy. E-mail: federico.frattini@polimi.it. Tel: +39 02 2399 2796. |
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Abstract: | We present a theoretical framework of family ownership as a driver of the heterogeneity (between-firm differences) and variability (within-firm differences over time) of absorptive capacity (AC). Building on our analysis of the multiple dimensions of family ownership influence on firm behavior and the mechanisms that can shape the firm willingness and ability to acquire, assimilate, transform, and exploit external knowledge, we introduce the concepts of motivation gap and implementation gap to explain why, paradoxically, family ownership can cause both upward and downward divergences in AC. Our contingency framework identifies conditions under which the positive and negative effects of family ownership on AC are likely to prevail and adds a temporal perspective suggesting that AC varies depending on the duration of family ownership and ownership succession. |
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