The role of human capital on family firm innovativeness: the strategic leadership role of family board members

Andrea Calabrò (), Mariateresa Torchia (), Daniela Gimenez Jimenez () and Sascha Kraus ()
Additional contact information
Andrea Calabrò: IPAG Entrepreneurship and Family Business Center, IPAG Business School
Mariateresa Torchia: International University of Monaco, INSEEC U Research Center, 14 Rue Hubert Clerissi
Daniela Gimenez Jimenez: TUM School of Management, Technische Universität München
Sascha Kraus: Durham University Business School, Durham University

International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 2021, vol. 17, issue 1, No 14, 287 pages

Abstract: Abstract Drawing on the resource-based view of the firm, this study investigates the relationship between human capital (employees’ experience, knowledge and technical skills, managerial talent) and innovativeness (propensity to innovate) in a sample of 478 family firms taken from a cross-country dataset (STEP Project). Furthermore, we consider the moderating effect of the proportion of family members sitting on the board of directors (family board ratio). The main findings highlight that there is a positive relationship between human capital and family firm innovativeness. Moreover, family board ratio positively moderates the relationship between human capital and innovativeness in such a way that when the family board ratio is high, the relationship between human capital and innovativeness is stronger. This result is weaker when multiple family generations are actively involved in the firm. In summary, family members sitting on the board of directors focus more attention on people and for this reason, play an important strategic leadership role in valorizing human capital that fosters more innovativeness.

Keywords: Family firms; Human capital; Innovativeness; Board of directors; Generations; STEP Project (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11365-020-00657-y Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:intemj:v:17:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s11365-020-00657-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... urship/journal/11365

DOI: 10.1007/s11365-020-00657-y

Access Statistics for this article

International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal is currently edited by Salvador Roig

More articles in International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().