Culture of family commitment and strategic flexibility: The moderating effect of stewardship

Shaker A. Zahra, James C. Hayton, Donald O. Neubaum, Clay Dibrell, Justin Craig

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

415 Scopus citations

Abstract

The ability of family firms to identify and respond to changes in their external environments can be a key source of competitive advantage leading to success and survival. Some research, however, has suggested family firms are conservative and often lack the ability to adapt to their changing competitive environments. Using data from 248 family firms, we found a family firm's culture of commitment to the business is positively associated with its strategic flexibility - the ability to pursue new opportunities and respond to threats in the competitive environment. Further, we found stewardship-oriented organizational culture positively moderated the family commitment-strategic flexibility relationship.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1035-1054
Number of pages20
JournalEntrepreneurship: Theory and Practice
Volume32
Issue number6 SPEC. ISS.
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2008

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Culture of family commitment and strategic flexibility: The moderating effect of stewardship'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this