How family firms use governance mechanisms to mitigate the risks of ecosystems: a case study from healthcare

Abstract

This study aims to increase our understanding of how family firms, acting as ecosystem orchestrators, mitigate perceived relational and performance risk in ecosystems via the use of governance mechanisms. We use the ecosystem governance literature to understand whether family firms’ characteristics lead to a unique governance approach in an ecosystem setting. Our findings and theoretical implications are threefold; (1) formal and informal governance mechanisms act as complements to mitigate relational and performance risks; (2) the choice of governance mechanisms differs for relational and performance risk; (3) changes in perceived risk over time result in shifts in the relative dominance of formal/informal governance mechanisms.

The “open family firm”: openness as boundary work in family enterprises

“…In the article, "How family firms use governance mechanisms to mitigate the risks of ecosystems: A case study from healthcare," Cobben et al, (2022) question how family firms use formal and informal governance mechanisms to mitigate relational and In the fourth article, "Innovation as a mixed gamble in family firms: The moderating effect of interorganizational cooperation," Kim et al, (2022) wonder how inter-organizational cooperation moderates the relationship between family ownership and firm innovation. Based on a sample of 2114 SMEs in South Korea, they show that inter-organizational cooperation by partnering with non-commercial organizations is associated with higher levels of innovation.…”