Based on the social capital, conflict, and ethics literatures, this study introduces a new concept, the family point of view, and provides theoretical arguments resulting in the following hypotheses: (a) The family point of view emerges from collaborative dialogue, which helps develop agreement to ethical norms; (b) the presence of ethical norms further helps cultivate family social capital; and (c) as a resource in a family business, family social capital is positively related to family firm performance. Using structural equation modeling, an exploratory test of 405 small family firms found support for all three hypotheses. The findings indicate a fully mediated relationship among collaborative dialogue, ethical norms, family social capital, and firm performance. The study not only highlights the importance of moral infrastructure in family firms but also helps clarify components of family social capital.

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To promote theoretical development in family business research, this research identified 327 dependent/outcome variables used in 257 empirical family business studies in 1998-2009. In four studies, the authors categorized outcome variables, developed a numerical taxonomy with seven clusters (performance, strategy, social and economic impact, governance, succession, family business roles, and family dynamics) plotted along two dimensions (business–family and short-term–long-term), validated their research, and identified missing outcome variables and variables that deserve more attention. Experts agree that family business roles, succession, and family dynamics make the family business domain unique and that noneconomic performance and family-specific topics deserve more attention.

Building on the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) literature, we investigate the relationship between family firm performance and autonomy, a key EO dimension. To enhance the understanding of the role of autonomy, we compare the joint impact of environmental dynamism and national cultural context (performance-based vs socially supportive cultures) on the autonomy–performance relationship of family firms in the United States and Taiwan. Using a configurational approach and data from 130 family firms (53 in the US and 77 in Taiwan), we found that in dynamic environments, autonomy is associated with improved performance in the United States, while in Taiwan, firms in dynamic environments fared worse with increasing autonomy. We discuss the implications of these findings and provide recommendations for future research.