Drawing on the transgenerational entrepreneurship perspective, we employ a multiple case study approach to investigate why multigenerational family firms innovate. The data collection process drew upon five in-depth cases comprising 42 semistructured interviews, 25 participant observations, and several thousand pages of historical data dating from 1916 to 2017. We find patterns on how the firms’ long-term view—embracing both the past and the future—influences the innovation motives of these firms. Specifically, we identify three innovation patterns: conserving, persisting and legacy-building. We introduce a set of propositions and a framework linking long-term orientation dimensions to innovation motives and innovation outcomes. Our research thus contributes to a more fine-grained understanding of innovation behavior in family firms.

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We draw upon the socioemotional wealth perspective and the mixed gamble approach to employ a five-year panel dataset of 223 Belgian private family firms to investigate the relationship between family management and growth, with family management ownership, generational involvement, and the CEO's family status moderating this link. We find an inverted U-shaped relationship, with growth reaching its maximum at intermediate levels of family management. Additionally, we demonstrate that family management ownership, generational involvement, and the presence of a family CEO hamper the family management-growth link: all these variables attenuate the positive effect of low to moderate family management, and accentuate the negative impact of high family management. Consequently, our research contributes to a deeper understanding of the relationship between family management and growth.

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