The effect of CEO entrepreneurial passion on family firm entrepreneurial orientation: does generational stage matter?

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore to what extent passionate family chief executive officers (CEOs) increase the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) of the family firm. More specifically, the authors investigate the impact of the family CEO’s entrepreneurial passion (EP) on the firm’s EO and explore whether the generational stage of the family CEO alters this relationship.Design/methodology/approachA multiple moderated regression model was used to test the hypothesized relationships, based on a unique sample of 140 private Belgian family firms. All respondent CEOs are members of the controlling family, meaning they are in a unique position to influence firm-level outcomes.FindingsThe results reveal a significant positive effect of a CEO’s EP on the family firm’s EO. The generational stage of the family CEO moderates the EP-EO relationship, so the positive effect is strongest in first-generation family CEOs and becomes negative in third- or later-generation CEOs.Originality/valueThis research builds on insights from imprinting and upper echelon theory to explore how the EP of the family CEO impacts the family firm’s EO. This study thereby contributes to research regarding the antecedents of EO and introduces the concept of EP in a family firm context. The present study further contributes to the literature on imprinting, as it empirically shows how the EP-EO relationship differs depending on the generational stage of the family CEO. In a family firm context, the generational stage acts as a contingency variable, determining the dominant theory (i.e. upper echelon or imprinting theory) in explaining the EP-EO relationship.

CEO's self-oriented perfectionism, strategic decision comprehensiveness and firm resilience

“…, 2023; Sannino et al. , 2020; Vanhees et al. , 2023); it is necessary to examine the mediating roles (Ou et al.…”

“…Third, by adopting the attention-based view, this study contributes to opening the "black box" criticized considerably in studies based on the upper echelons theory (Chen and Nadkarni, 2017;Jiang et al, 2020;Neely et al, 2020). The relationship between CEOs' characteristics and organizational outcomes is indirect and complex (Saiyed et al, 2023;Sannino et al, 2020;Vanhees et al, 2023); it is necessary to examine the mediating roles (Ou et al, 2018) to tackle the mechanism. Drawing insights from the attention-based view (Ocasio, 1997(Ocasio, , 2011Ocasio et al, 2018), this study extends our knowledge of how CEOs' self-oriented perfectionism affects firm resilience via strategic decision comprehensiveness.…”

Performance feedback and obsessive passion: The moderating role of human capital

“…However, contrasting findings point out no empirical correlation between CEOs’ obsessive passion and growth in sales or profits [ 36 ]. Furthermore, studies demonstrate a positive association between CEOs’ passion and innovation, particularly in terms of radical and technological advancements and firm-level entrepreneurial orientation [ 3 , 37 , 38 ].…”

So … are family firms more sustainable? On the economic, social and environmental sustainability of family SMEs

“…The founding generation plays a vital role imprinting the organizational culture, identity, routines, initial structure and the entrepreneurial orientation (Vanhees et al, 2023). Once the way forward is already implemented in the founding stage, each of the succeeding generations adds its own imprint.…”