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Abstract

Our study focuses on family farm firms as an important and yet under-researched type of family firms. We explore the entrepreneurial growth behavior in the context of family farm firms by focusing on the role of pluriactivity. By integrating the literature of family business strategies, EO, and growth intentions, this study of 1618 Finnish family farms seeks to understand the idea of pluriactivity as a strategic orientation of family farm firms leading towards the growth and renewal of their prevailing and future domains. Our study revealed that pluriactivity is associated with growthorientation and perceived strengths of the family farm firms. We identified four types of growth groups (Established, Growth-Driven, Experimenters, StandStills) and found differences in their pluriactive orientation. We suggest that pluriactivity as a strategic orientation affects the growth-intention of the family entrepreneurs and the business renewal processes of the family farm firms. Entrepreneurs need to have capabilities (knowledge, skills, experience) and willingness to change (motivation, attitude, volition) when using pluriactivity as a strategic orientation as they affect growth behavior (EO). Lastly, we discuss with our results and make some suggestions for future research avenues in family business strategy research.