How important is it for family businesses to maintain a strong entrepreneurial orientation over time?

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explore how important is the entrepreneurial orientation for family businesses. Entrepreneurial orientation is an important concept within the entrepreneurship field and it should be maintained through family generations. Proactiveness, risk-taking and innovativeness form the essence of entrepreneurial orientation, while the generational level is an influential variable, related to entrepreneurial orientation. A preliminary and conceptual study of the described problem was undertaken. Although risk-taking is essential in developing entrepreneurship and sustaining the family legacy, family businesses are risk-averse, due to concerns about reduction in family wealth. Entrepreneurial orientation may be strong at the founder stage, but it decreases as the business moves through generations. Entrepreneurial families should have an entrepreneurial orientation towards business activities, as it provides the vision to mobilise the knowledge within the family business. Strong and consistent family leadership is needed to create a climate favouring entrepreneurial orientation. Families should develop an entrepreneurial spirit and orientation that can sustain the current generation and the entire family into the future.

Does Digital Capabilities Foster Social Innovation Performance in Social Enterprises? Mediation by Firm-Level Entrepreneurial Orientation

“…On the other hand, a stronger EO inclination puts the company in a position to develop new capabilities and upgrade current ones to ones that are more growth-oriented [102]. Drawing from the same theoretical foundations, recent studies have begun to uncover the connections between effective DT in enterprises and the EO [103].…”

Entrepreneurship education, family entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial intention among students in Indonesia

“…Within this view, family entrepreneurial orientation is placed as an informal environment that motivates students to learn more about entrepreneurship in their education, implying an increasing entrepreneurial intention. Through family values, norms and endorsement, the impact of an entrepreneurship course on students’ intention to start a business might be amplified by family entrepreneurial orientation (Arzubiaga et al , 2018; Visser and Scheers, 2020). Accordingly, we argue that family entrepreneurial orientation will moderate the effect of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention.…”