Surviving the coronavirus pandemic and beyond: Unlocking family firms’ innovation potential across crises

A Window of Opportunity: Radical Versus Repurposing Innovation Under Conditions of Environmental Uncertainty and Crisis

In this article, we extend the innovation literature by examining how firms respond to crisis, specifically exogenous crises. At their early onset, crises may represent a window of opportunity for innovation, but it is not equally allocated across firms. We created a unique database of 636 biopharmaceutical firms, from 24 countries and territories, developing innovative treatments during the early outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis to study this phenomenon. We found that firms acted strategically to the shifting external environment and attempted to capitalize on the opportunity by pursuing different but complementary innovation strategies (i.e., radical versus repurposed). The successful outcome of a chosen strategy was highly dependent upon a firm's accumulated knowledge resources, which varied in degree of diversity (i.e., homogeneous versus heterogeneous). We found that firms with more focused R&D (i.e., homogeneous knowledge) developed more radical innovations, whereas firms with more diverse R&D (i.e., heterogeneous knowledge) repurposed innovations. We controlled for firm size (small versus large), firm age (startup versus mature), and country classification (developing versus emerging). We also controlled for a firm's prior knowledge and expertise in coronavirus research and found that it did not influence innovation. Our results suggest that this unique period of environmental uncertainty and crisis created a window of opportunity and a level playing field for innovation.

The speed of internationalization in regionally clustered family firms: a deeper understanding of innovation activities and cluster affiliation

This article aims to explore how innovation activities and cluster affiliation moderate the relationship between family involvement and post-internationalization speed in family firms. Based on a sample of 639 Portuguese family businesses (FBs) created and internationalized between 2010 and 2018, we show that, all things being equal, higher levels of family involvement in ownership and management lead to a lower post-internationalization speed. When considering the effect of cluster affiliation, we found that clustered FBs have a lower propensity to slow down the post-internationalization process than their non-clustered counterparts. Likewise, when we account for the interactive effect of innovation activities, the results confirm that innovative FBs are less likely to slow down the post-internationalization process compared to non-innovative FBs. In addition, the concern of family firms in developing innovation was particularly pronounced when they belong to clusters. This finding is explained by the existence of socially proximate relationships with other cluster members, based on similarity, trust, knowledge exchange, and sense of belonging, which push family firms to innovate to counteract the detrimental effects of a higher family involvement in the post-internationalization speed. Our study, therefore, stresses the importance of clusters and innovation activities in moderating the relationship between family involvement and post-internationalization speed.

Supplementary Information

The online version of this article (10.1007/s10037-023-00182-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Responding to unexpected crises: The roles of slack resources and entrepreneurial attitude to build resilience

This study explores how entrepreneurial firms responded to - and displayed resilience in - coping with the uncertainty generated by an unexpected crisis. We examine how entrepreneurs leveraged slack resources to build organizational resilience and, thanks to their entrepreneurial attitude, could eventually turn adversities into opportunities. Through a multiple case study, four key entrepreneurial responses emerge about the type of slack resources (business or family) and extent of entrepreneurial attitude (favourable or unfavourable) leveraged: "waiting while seeding", "keeping business as usual", "striving to resist" and "surfing the pandemic". Slack resources, both business and family, can enable the absorption of a shock, contributing to building absorptive resilience, or the adaptation to the shock, contributing to building adaptive resilience. Yet, they are not sufficient to turn adversities into opportunities because firms also require a favourable entrepreneurial attitude to activate slack. Plain English Summary How entrepreneurial firms respond to - and display resilience in - coping with a crisis's uncertainty varies according to the entrepreneurial attitude of the entrepreneur and the typology of slack resource leveraged. We find that these firms responded to the Covid 19 crisis either through: "waiting while seeding", "keeping business as usual", "striving to resist" or "surfing the pandemic". The four responses differ in the type of slack resources - business or family - and extent of entrepreneurial attitude - favourable or unfavourable - leveraged. Slack resources, both business and family, are not sufficient to turn adversities into opportunities because firms require a favourable entrepreneurial attitude to activate slack. The study contributes to business practice by showing that both family and non-family businesses to thrive in the "new normal" era will have to develop the entrepreneurial resources of the team. Policymakers must be attentive to how firms' accumulated resources are deployed during times of crisis and foster the capture of opportunities out of the storm.

Digitalization and entrepreneurial firms' resilience to pandemic crises: Evidence from COVID-19 and the German Mittelstand

While stressing the relevance of context, the organizational resilience literature has so far not extensively examined resilience in times of healthcare crises such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Parasite Stress Theory of Values suggests that such pandemic crises have detrimental impacts on entrepreneurial activity due to social distancing and its effects on interaction, collaboration, and innovation. However, alternatives to personal contact now available thanks to digitalization, have not yet been examined. We expect entrepreneurial firms with more digitalized business models to show higher resilience to pandemic crises, especially those highly affected by globalization and more for non-family businesses than for family businesses. Based on a survey of German Mittelstand firms in the midst of the crisis induced by COVID-19, our findings broadly support our expectations and thus help qualify the Parasite Stress Theory of Values and contribute to a better understanding of organizational resilience in times of pandemic crises.

A safe haven in times of crisis: The appeal of family companies as employers amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Family firms often struggle to recruit skilled non-family employees. Applying a mixed-method strategy, this article investigates the changing perception of family firms as attractive employers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Experimental results indicate that family firms benefit from a greater popularity amid crises owing to perceptions that they offer greater job security and compensation. Qualitative findings expand on these results by identifying new attractiveness-relevant factors that only come into play amid crises—specifically, multifaceted conceptions of family firms’ crisis responses and their importance for local communities and economies contribute to their situational appeal.