PurposeThe purpose of this research is to examine the interplay between family commitment as a family-centric resource and professionalization of the organization as a firm-centric resource to determine how the two phenomenon come together to enhance business performance in the context of privately held family firms.Design/methodology/approachDeploying the theoretical lens offered by the resource-based view, a conceptual link is developed between family commitment to the firm and firm performance with the potential moderating influence of firm professionalization. The hypotheses are tested using data collected from 357 privately held medium-to-large family-owned manufacturing companies in Bangladesh. The data are analyzed through structural equation modeling using SmartPLS (v.3.2).FindingsThe data analysis suggests that in absence of the moderator; professionalization, family commitment has a positive and significant association with firm performance. While in the presence of the moderator the above relationship is substantially stronger. The findings indicate that when family-specific resources and firm-specific resources are synchronized, it enhances performance of the family firm and puts it on a strong economic footing toward a more sustainable future.Research limitations/implicationsCross-sectional nature of the study exposes it to the specter of common method bias despite the fact that procedural remedies were initiated to minimize the impact of such occurrence. Furthermore, data were collected from a single individual in each organization. Therefore, a longitudinal study with data obtained from multiple individuals at different levels of the organization would possibly yield more robust findings.Practical implicationsLeaders of family firms may find pertinent clues from the outcome of this study. Particularly, the confluence of family commitment to the firm as a family-specific resource and professionalization as a firm-specific resource can be valuable, rare, difficult to imitate and substitute source of competitive advantage for the family business organization.Social implicationsSurvival of family businesses is vital to the global economy as one of the primary drivers of global gross domestic product growth and source of new employment. Policymakers can benefit from the findings of this study to customize policies to nurture growth of family enterprises and incentivize family firms to adopt professionalization through better governance and transparent managerial procedures.Originality/valueA nuanced understanding of how family commitment and firm professionalization combine to significantly improve performance of family firms has not been dominant in the literature. Therefore, findings of this study carry special theoretical implications, because it suggests that both family-specific features and firm-specific features are necessary for enhanced levels of firm-centric business outcomes such as economic performance.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) practices of financial institutions in an emerging economy of Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach Based on 93 items of intellectual capital categorized into internal capital, external capital and human capital, ICD index is developed for 53 financial institutions listed in Dhaka Stock Exchange. This study uses descriptive statistics to analyze ICD practices, and parametric and non-parametric tests to analyze the variation of ICD practices in terms of different categories as well as in terms of different sectors. Findings Results indicate that more than 70% of ICD items are generally not disclosed by financial institutions in Bangladesh. The highest of 36% of external capital disclosure items are disclosed, whereas the lowest of 18% of human resource capital elements are disclosed. Furthermore, results find the significant variability of ICD practices in terms of different intellectual capital categories and in between banking companies and non-banking financial institutions. Practical implications Findings have critical implications for managers, policymakers and regulators for setting appropriate strategies and regulations for improving the level of ICD, which, in turn, may reduce the information asymmetry problems of financial institutions as well. Originality/value In-depth analysis about variability of ICD practices creates value in the ICD literature by highlighting strategic priority of financial institutions to disclose information about the strategic resources in unique emerging economic settings such as Bangladesh.

This study aims to explore the corporate voluntary disclosure practices of the listed banks in an emerging economy namely Bangladesh. Results show that the extent of voluntary disclosure significantly improves from 2005 to 2008. However, the level of disclosure items related to corporate governance and risk management are lower than other disclosure categories. Overall findings of this study contribute in the accounting and economic literature by adding an empirical results of voluntary disclosure of a highly regulated industry from an emerging economy. Nevertheless, the results have the limitation to generalize for other industries as well as for banks from countries.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether there is a firm-level corporate governance (CG) convergence in two emerging economies, namely Malaysia and Thailand in post-Asian financial crisis periods, and how the level of convergence is moderated by different firm-specific factors. Design/methodology/approach – Using data collected from annual reports of top Malaysian and Thai companies in two point of times 2005 and 2008, this research examines the attributes of board of directors to find the firm-level CG convergence. This study, based on prior literature, identified firm-specific factors to assess their moderating impact on the level of convergence. This paper exploits beta and sigma convergence technique to measure the CG convergence. Findings – Results show that top Malaysian and Thai companies have developed internal CG practices in similar way with increasing board independent, separate board leadership, important board committees, board education, and participation in the post-crisis reform regime. Accordingly, there is a firm-level CG convergence within companies of an individual country, i.e. intra-convergence, and companies across the countries, i.e. inter-convergence. Notwithstanding, the study does not find the unconditional convergence in all CG variables. Additionally, it observes that the firm-level CG convergence is moderated by firm-specific factors. Practical implications – Outcomes of the study have the implication to understand the complicated changing aspects of internal CG practices in emerging economies which, in turn, can help to formulate and implement effective CG structure so that firms can tackle adverse effects of any further economic crisis. Because this paper highlights that the firms in these emerging economies have enough room yet to improve their CG practices to become internationally competitive. Originality/value – This paper demonstrates how internal CG practices may evolve and converge in emerging Southeast Asian economies. Results related to moderating factors of firm-level CG convergence contribute in literature by exploring a new dimension of CG convergence.

No abstract