Organizational culture is an important strategic resource that family firms can use to gain a competitive advantage. Drawing upon the resource–based view (RBV) of the firm, this study examines the association between four dimensions of organizational culture in family vs. non–family businesses and entrepreneurship. Using data from 536 U.S. manufacturing companies, the results show a nonlinear association between the cultural dimension of individualism and entrepreneurship. Further, there are positive linear relationships between entrepreneurship and an external orientation, an organizational cultural orientation toward decentralization, and a long– versus short–term orientation. With the exception of an external orientation, each of these dimensions is significantly more influential upon entrepreneurship in family firms when compared with non–family firms.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AstrachanJ.H. & KolenkoT.A. (1994). A neglected factor explaining family business success: Human resource practices. Family Business Review, 7(3), 251–262.
2.
AstrachanJ.H. & ShankerM.C. (2003). Family businesses’ contribution to the U.S. economy: a closer look. Family Business Review, 16(3), 211–219.
3.
AutioE. & MustakallioM. (2003). Family firm internationalization: A model of family firm generational succession and internationalization strategic postures. Paper presented at the Theories of the Family Enterprise Conference, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, (December).
4.
AutioE., SapienzaH.J., & AlmeidaJ.G. (2000). Effects of age at entry, knowledge intensity, and imitability on international growth. Academy of Management Journal, 43(5), 909–924.
5.
BarneyJ.B. (1986). Organizational culture: Can it be a source of sustained competitive advantage?Academy of Management Review, 11(3), 656–665.
6.
BarneyJ.B. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99–120.
7.
BarneyJ.B., ClarkD., & AlvarezS. (2003). Where does entrepreneurship come from? Network models of opportunity recognition and resource acquisition with application to the family firm. Paper presented at the Theories of the Family Enterprise Conference, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, (December).
8.
BurgelmanR.A. (1983). A process model of internal corporate venturing in the diversified major firm. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28(2), 223–245.
9.
ChrismanJ.J., ChuaJ.H., & LitzR.A. (2002). Do family firms have higher agency costs than non–family firms? Paper presented at the Theories of the Family Enterprise Conference, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, (December).
10.
ChuaJ.H., ChrismanJ.J., & SharmaP. (1999). Defining the family business by behavior. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, 23(4), 19–39.
11.
CorbettaG. (1995). Family firms. Original characteristics, variety and development conditions (in Italian). Milan: Egea.
12.
CorbettaG., & MontemerloD. (1999). Ownership, governance, and management issues in small and medium–size family businesses: A comparison of Italy and the United States. Family Business Review, 12(4), 361–374.
13.
DailyC.M. & DollingerM.J. (1991). Family firms are different. Review of Business, 13(1), 3–5.
14.
DavisJ.A., PittsE.L., & CormierK. (2000). Challenges facing family companies in the Gulf Region. Family Business Review, 13(3), 217–237.
15.
DealT.E. & KennedyA.A. (1983). Culture: A new look through old lenses. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 19(4), 498–505.
16.
DeLongD.W. & FaheyL. (2000). Diagnosing cultural barriers to knowledge management. Academy of Management Executive, 14(4), 113–127.
17.
DertouzosM.L., LesterR.K., & SolowR.M. (1989). Made in America: Regaining the productive edge. Cambridge: MIT Press.
18.
DetertJ.R., SchroederR.G., & MaurielJ.J. (2000). A framework for linking culture and improvement initiatives in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 25(4), 850–863.
19.
DierickxI. & CoolK. (1989). Asset stock accumulation and sustainability of competitive advantage. Management Science, 35(12), 1504–1511.
20.
DyerW.G. (1986). Cultural change in family firms: Anticipating and managing business and family transitions. San Francisco: Jossey–Bass.
21.
GersickK.E., DavisJ.A., HamptonM.M., & LansbergI. (1997). Generation to generation: Life cycles of the family business. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
22.
Gomez–MejiaL.R., Nuñez–NickelM., & GutierrezI. (2001). The role of family ties in agency contracts. Academy of Management Journal, 44(1), 81–95.
23.
HabbershonT.G. & AstrachanJ.H. (1997). Perceptions are reality: How family meetings lead to collective action. Family Business Review, 10(1), 37–52.
24.
HabbershonT.G., WilliamsM., & MacMillanI.C. (2003). A unified systems perspective of family firm performance. Journal of Business Venturing, forthcoming.
25.
HallA., MelinL., & NordqvistM. (2001) Entrepreneurship as radical change in the family business: Exploring the role of cultural patterns. Family Business Review, 14(3), 193–208.
26.
HannanM.T. & FreemanJ. (1989). Organizational ecology. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
27.
HaytonJ.C., GeorgeG., & ZahraS.A. (2002). National culture and entrepreneurship: A review of behavioral research. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, 26(4), 33–52.
28.
HerbigP.A. (1994). The innovation matrix: Culture and structure prerequisites to innovation. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.
29.
HittM.A., HoskissonR.E., JohnsonR.A., & MoeselD.D. (1996). The market for corporate control and firm innovation. Academy of Management Journal, 39(5), 1084–1119.
30.
HofstedeG. (1991). Culture and organizations: Software of the mind. London: McGraw–Hill.
31.
HofstedeG., NeuijenB., OhayvD.D., & SandersG. (1990). Measuring organizational cultures: A qualitative and quantitative study across twenty cases. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(2), 286–316.
32.
HoworthC. & AliZ. (2001) Family business succession in Portugal: An examination of case studies in the furniture industry. Family Business Review, 14(3), 231–244.
33.
KanterR.M. (1983). The change masters: Innovations for productivity in the American corporation. New York: Simon & Schuster.
34.
KazanjianR.K. & DrazinR. (1990). A state–contingent model of design and growth for technology based new ventures. Journal of Business Venturing, 5(3), 137–150.
35.
LitzR.A. (1995). The family business: Toward definitional clarity. Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings, 100–104, Briarcliff Manor, NY.
36.
LumpkinG.T. & DessG.G. (1996). Clarifying the entrepreneurial orientation construct and linking it to performance. Academy of Management Review, 21(1), 135–173.
37.
MillerD. (1983). The correlates of entrepreneurship in three types of firms. Management Science, 29(7), 770–792.
38.
MorrisM.H. (1998). Entrepreneurial intensity. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.
39.
MorrisM.H., DavisD.L., & AllenJ.W. (1993). Fostering corporate entrepreneurship: Cross–cultural comparisons of the importance of individualism versus collectivism. Journal of International Business Studies, 25(1), 65–89.
40.
OlsonP.D., ZuikerV.S., DanesS.M., StaffordK., HeckR.K.Z., & DuncanK.A. (2003). Impact of family and business on family business sustainability. Journal of Business Venturing, 18(5), forthcoming.
41.
O'ReillyC.A., ChatmanJ., & CaldwellD.F. (1991). People and organizational culture: A profile comparison approach to assessing person–organization fit. Academy of Management Journal, 34(3), 487–516.
42.
OwenA.J. & RoweB.R. (1995). The cultural underpinnings of running family–owned firms. Family Business Annual, 1 (Section 1), 133–149.
43.
PinchotG. (1985). Intrapreneuring. New York: Harper & Row.
44.
PistruiD., HuangW., OksoyD., JingZ., & WelschH. (2001). Entrepreneurship in China: Characteristics, attributes, and family forces shaping the emerging private sector. Family Business Review, 14(2), 141–152.
45.
PistruiD., WelschH.P., WintermantelO., LiaoJ., & PohlH.J. (2000). Entrepreneurial orientation and family forces in the new Germany: Similarities and differences between East and West German entrepreneurs. Family Business Review, 13(3), 251–263.
46.
PodsakoffP.M. & OrganD.W. (1986). Self–reports in organizational research: Problems and prospects. Journal of Management, 12(4), 531–544.
47.
PriemR.L. & ButlerJ.E. (2001). Is the resource–based “view” a useful perspective for strategic management research?Academy of Management Review, 26(1), 22–40.
48.
RogoffE.G. & HeckR.K.Z. (2003). Evolving research in entrepreneurship and family business: Recognizing family as the oxygen that feeds the fire of entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Venturing, 18(5), forthcoming.
49.
ScheinE. (1992). Organizational culture and leadership, 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey–Bass.
50.
SchulzeW.S., LubatkinM.H., DinoR.N., & BuchholtzA.K. (2001). Agency relationships in family firms: Theory and evidence. Organization Science, 12(2), 99–116.
51.
SharmaP., ChrismanJ.J., & ChuaJ.H. (1996). A review and annotated bibliography of family business studies. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
52.
SharmaP., ChrismanJ.J., & ChuaJ.H. (1997). Strategic management of family business: Past research and future challenges. Family Business Review, 10(1), 1–35.
53.
SharmaP. & RaoA.S. (2000). Successor attributes in Indian and Canadian family firms: A comparative study. Family Business Review, 13(4), 313–330.
54.
SteierL. (2001). Family firms, plural forms of governance, and the evolving role of trust. Family Business Review, 14(4), 353–367.
55.
TasiW. (2001). Knowledge transfer in intraorganizational networks: Effects of network position and absorptive capacity on business unit innovation and performance. Academy of Management Journal, 44(5), 996–1004.
56.
ThomasD.C. & AuK. (2002). The effect of cultural differences on behavioral responses to low job satisfaction. Journal of International Business Studies, 33(2), 309–362.
57.
Von HippelE., ThomkeS., & SonnackM. (1999). Creating breakthroughs at 3M. Harvard Business Review, 77(5), 47–55.
58.
WardJ.L. (1987). Keeping the family business healthy: How to plan for continuous growth, profitability and family leadership. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
59.
WardJ.L. (2000). Reflections on Indian family groups. Family Business Review, 13(4), 271–278.
60.
WestheadP. & CowlingM. (1996). Demographic contrasts between family and non–family unquoted companies in the United Kingdom. Working Paper 32, Coventry: The University of Warwick, Center for Small and Medium–Sized Enterprises.
61.
WinterM., FitzgeraldM.A., HeckR.T.Z., HaynesG.W., & DanesS.M. (1998). Revisiting the study of family businesses: Methodological challenges, dilemmas, and alternative approaches. Family Business Review, 11(3), 239–252.
62.
ZahraS.A. (1996). Governance, ownership, and corporate entrepreneurship: The moderating impact of industry technological opportunities. Academy of Management Journal, 39(6), 1713–1735.
63.
ZahraS.A. (2003). Ownership involvement and international expansion: An empirical test of the stewardship theory among family firms. Journal of Business Venturing, forthcoming.
64.
ZahraS.A., NeubaumD.O., & HuseM. (2000). Entrepreneurship in medium–size companies: Exploring the effects of ownership and governance systems. Journal of Management, 26(5), 947–976.
