When a high-quality niche strategy is not enough to spur family-firm internationalization: The role of external and internal contexts

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Eddleston, Kimberly A.; Sarathy, Ravi; Banalieva, Elitsa R.
• 署名单位: Northeastern University; Northeastern University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2506
• DOI: 10.1057/s41267-018-0199-8
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 783-808
• 关键词: internationalization; small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); family versus nonfamily firms; product quality; country-of-origin; pro-market development; PROFESSIONALIZATION

摘要

While prior research suggests that family firms are risk-averse with regards to internationalization, Hennart et al. (J Int Bus Stud, 2017) show that family firms selling high-quality niche products internationalize as much as their nonfamily-firm counterparts. Our Counterpoint extends Hennart et al.'s (2017) thesis by suggesting that this effect is not universal but depends on the external context (country-of-origin pro-market development) and internal context (professionalization practices). Our study demonstrates that family firms selling high-quality niche products struggle to internationalize when they are from countries with weaker pro-market development. We also show that professionalization practices benefit family firms selling high-quality niche products abroad.