Are family female directors catalysts of innovation in family small and medium enterprises?

Abstract

While family small and medium enterprises (SMEs) increasingly involve women in their boards, the role of female directors as catalysts of innovation is yet to be fully understood. Drawing on upper echelons theory, we examine directors' gender in conjunction with family affiliation to investigate the influence of family female directors on family SMEs' innovation. Moreover, by analyzing the contingent role of socioemotional wealth preferences, we open the black box of noneconomic aspects shaping the cognition and behavior of boards. Our analysis of a unique survey-based sample of 287 Belgian family SMEs reveals that family female directors do exert a positive influence on R&D intensity. However, according to the mixed gamble logic, this influence is filtered by the positive and negative moderation of their socioemotional wealth preferences.

Family firm status and environmental disclosure: The moderating effect of board gender diversity

“…From an agency logic perspective, gender diversity in family firms can, through an effective monitoring role, reduce principal–principal agency problems (Renders & Gaeremynck, 2012) and mitigate the effects of entrenchment. Indeed, women directors can contribute to a more diffused use of managerial control systems, leading to higher professionalization (Bauweraerts et al, 2022; Songini & Gnan, 2009). Professionalization reduces the risk of entrenchment, preventing the promotion of unqualified family members, and contributes to reinstate trust among both the family firm's internal and external stakeholders (Joy, 2008) improving societal environmental responses.…”

“…From an agency logic perspective, gender diversity in family firms can, through an effective monitoring role, reduce principal-principal agency problems (Renders & Gaeremynck, 2012) and mitigate the effects of entrenchment. Indeed, women directors can contribute to a more diffused use of managerial control systems, leading to higher professionalization (Bauweraerts et al, 2022;Songini & Gnan, 2009).…”

Catalyzing change: Innovation in women's entrepreneurship

“…The papers in the special issue showcase various methods and empirical contexts for research on innovation in women's entrepreneurship and they highlight several themes at the macro, meso, and micro levels. One article focuses on a macro theme (Belz, Graddy‐Reed, Hanewicz, & Terrile, in press), two address meso themes (Bauweraerts, Rondi, Rovelli, De Massis, & Sciascia, 2022; Madison, Moore, Daspit, & Nabisaalu, 2022), and two address micro themes (McGrath, Chen, & Nerkar, in press; Seigner, Milanov, & Mckenny, in press). The articles in this special issue represent the frontiers of empirical research on innovation in women's entrepreneurship.…”

“…At the meso level, Madison et al (2022) and Bauweraerts et al (2022) explore innovativeness in relation to specific organizational configurations. The study by Madison , Moore , Daspit , and Nabisaalu explores the socially embedded nature of innovation in emerging markets.…”

Going greener, performing better? The case of private family firms

“…Decisions and organizational actions are thus the result of behavioral factors that mirror the idiosyncrasies of decision-makers (Hambrick, 2007). Upper echelons theorists have widely explored how individual executives' characteristics and traits impact organizational decisions and performance (Arena et al, 2018;Bauweraerts et al, 2022;Wang et al, 2016), some of them emphasizing the role of the dominant coalition, e.g., the TMT, whose characteristics may also influence strategic choices and firm outcomes (Nielsen and Nielsen, 2013). Their rationale is that the TMT's cognition, shaped by the variety of educational and functional backgrounds, values, experiences, connections and networks of TMT members, is a key factor in explaining differences in organizational decisions and firm outcomes (Sirén et al, 2018).…”