Researching Family Business Growth

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12389
• Date: 01 September 2020
• Published date: 01 September 2020

Researching Family Business Growth

ALESSANDRO CIRILLO,

1

JOLIEN HUYBRECHTS,

2

DONATA MUSSOLINO,

3

SALVATORE SCIASCIA

4

and WIM VOORDECKERS

5

1

Department of Economics, University of Foggia, Via R. Caggese, 1, 71121, Foggia, Italy

2

School of Business and Economics, Department of Organization, Strategy & Entrepreneurship, Maastricht University, 53

Tongersestraat, 6211, LMMaastricht, The Netherlands

3

University of Naples Federico II, Department of Mangement, Via Cinthia Complesso Monte Sant’Angelo, Napoli, Italy

4

Università Cattaneo LIUC, Corso Matteotti 22, 21053, Castellanza (VA), Italy

5

Research Centerfor Entrepreneurship and FamilyFirms (RCEF), Martelarenlaan42, Hasselt University,3500, Hasselt, Belgium

This paper is the first in a specialsection of the European Management Review dedicated to the growthof family

businesses. We provide a literature review of 54 articles written in this research field, based on a framework that

highlights the antecedents and the outcomes of growth at the family and the business levels. We also offer a brief

overview of the contributions of each of the papers in this special section and conclude by identifying relevant

research gaps to propose a numberof future research directions.

Keywords: Family business; Growth; Literature review

Introduction

Growth is one of the main challenges of any type of firm

(Penrose, 1959). The identification of the characteristics

that enable a firm to grow is at the center of the attention

of academics and policy makers around the world, not

only because growthis an expression of business success,

but also because it may have a significant impact on the

economy and society in terms of new job creation

(Davidsson and Wiklund, 2006).

As family businesses represent the most widespread

type of firm around the world, and are consequently of

vital importance for the world economy, understanding

the antecedents and outcomes of growth of this kind of

firm deserves particular attention. Indeed, statistics show

that a significant number of family firms follow a growth

strategy and reach a substantial size, especially in Europe,

where 48.6% of the world’s500 largest family businesses

are located, generating revenues of US$2.89tn, that is,

13.2% of Europe’s GDP, and employing more than 8.9

million employees, representing 2.3% of Europe’s

workforce (Ernst and Young, 2016). Family controlled

firms are also the backbone of the US economy where

they account for 64% of GDP and generate 78% of all

new jobs creation. Moreover, family-run firms represent

85% of $1 billion-plus businesses in South-East Asia,

around 75% in Latin America, 67% in India and around

65% in the Middle East (Ernst and Young, 2016).

For family firms, growth could be related to both

business and family issues (Ingram et al., 2016). On the

one hand, growth helps family firms strive for the

business-oriented aim of sustaining a financially

prosperous firm. On the other hand, growth is also

specifically relevant for the family-oriented goal of

developing new employment opportunities for the next

generation and transferring the firm across generations

(Naldi et al., 2007; Ingramet al., 2016). At the same time,

a growth strategy may threaten the family need for

liquidity and control over the business, so that some

family businesses deliberately choose not to grow

(Hamelin, 2013).

While family ownership has served as a useful lens to

investigate firm growth (Calabrò et al., 2017), prior

literature did not sufficiently explore to what extent

growth is related to family involvement in management.

This gap clearly emerges from the literature review we

have conducted in this paper. Indeed, family involvement

in management could be an asset or a liability for family

firm growth (Yeung, 2000) as it influences the way

strategy is planned and realized (Uptonet al., 2001). Such

a gap has offeredus the opportunity to propose this special

section for the European Management Review.

Correspondence: Donata Mussolino, University of Naples Federico II,

Department of Mangement, Via Cinthia Complesso Monte Sant’Angelo,

80126 Napoli(Italy). E-mail: donata.mussolino@unina.it

European Management Review, Vol. 17, 733–746, (2020)

DOI: 10.1111/emre.12389

©2020 European Academy of Management