A major challenge facing the family firm is the succession process. One reason for this challenge might involve the successor's ability to acquire the predecessor's key knowledge and skills adequately to maintain and improve the organizational performance of the firm. This paper uses two theoretical approaches from the strategic management field to explore this critical process and analyze how it can be managed effectively: the resource‐based theory of the firm and the emergent knowledgebased view. This conceptual framework provides a powerful tool for understanding the nature and transfer of knowledge within the family business, which becomes the basis for developing competitive advantage over nonfamily businesses.

The article initially addresses the concept of familiness and its connection with the succession process in the family firm to emphasize the relevance of the successor’s knowledge. Then, a model is presented that evolves from a dyadic relationship in the knowledge transfer process from predecessor to successor to a network of exchanges with multiple agents and sources that enhance the successor’s construction of knowledge through time. Key aspects derived from that model about the successor’s human capital, the predecessor’s role, the knowledge network, the relational context, and the time dimension of the process are then discussed.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of an entrepreneur’s accumulated knowledge and firm’s innovation on the development of reputation in the early years of a new venture from a knowledge-based approach. Design/methodology/approach – The study proposes a model that is tested with a sample of 130 firms in non-high-tech industries from the Canary Islands (Spain) using structural equation modelling. Data were collected through a survey. Findings – This study provide interesting insights on the effect of reputation on the performance in new ventures, along with antecedents of the new firm’s reputation from the knowledge-based view. The findings confirm that innovation and prior knowledge play important roles in the development of reputation in the early years of a new venture and that reputation has a significant effect on the performance of a new firm. The entrepreneur’s stock of knowledge does not reveal itself as a significant determinant of innovation and knowledge creation in this context. Research limitations/implications – The entrepreneur’s accumulated knowledge should be seen as a valuable existing asset for a new venture, and innovation and knowledge creation can be used to develop core competencies in orientating the strategic direction of a new venture. Both elements become fundamental despite addressing non-high-tech industries. Practical implications – Entrepreneurs should be aware of the key role that the creation and the stock of knowledge play in the first years of company life and this research shows how significant this relationship with the initial reputation and performance of new venture in non-high-technology industries is. Originality/value – There is a relative scarcity of studies on reputation-building strategies in new entrepreneurial ventures, and the present study adopts an original knowledge-based perspective to shed new light on the analysis of reputation.

Cooperative learning techniques in teaching activities are becoming increasingly popular. Many studies have documented the benefits of these techniques, but fewer have analysed the factors affecting students’ achievement. One of those factors could be the student’s proactivity, since cooperative techniques require active involvement of students. Proactivity or proactive behaviour relates to pioneering behaviour, initiative taken to exploit new opportunities, and a leading attitude. This study analyses the influence of several aspects related to students’ proactivity on knowledge construction in the context of cooperative learning. The aspects included in the proactivity framework are the student’s creativity, locus of control, self-effectiveness, and motivation towards cooperative learning. These variables and their potential effect on knowledge construction in cooperative experiences are discussed. The resulting hypotheses are tested with data from students who participated in a jigsaw, and the results show the positive impact of the internal locus of control and self-efficacy, along with the fact that the student is attending the course for the first time.

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