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家族企業之興業行為：探究忠僕型經理人、開創性導向以及新產品開發之關係
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Our article contributes to the literature in three ways. First, in order to heed the long-
standing call for more empirical inquiries into non-western style governance systems, this
study is among the first to empirically demonstrate steward-like managers’ influence on
entrepreneurial behaviors in the context of Asian family business. Through the stewardship
perspective, we shed new light on the long-lasting debates between control versus
collaborative approaches, and contend that steward-like managers serve conditionally as a
driving force, rather than a hindrance, to the company-wide entrepreneurial orientation
(Corbetta and Salvato, 2004; Sundaramurthy and Lewis, 2003). Second, departing from the
prior wisdom on the causes of innovation (De Massis, Frattini, and Lichtenthaler, 2013), we
further unveil the black box of the innovation mechanism of family businesses by identifying
the mediating role of explorative orientation which passes on managerial stewardship to the
NPD performance. Some managerial merits, such as their decision comprehensiveness,
participative governance and long-term orientation, are found to lay the foundation of the
company-wide atmosphere of autonomy, risk readiness and proactiveness, which jointly
determine the innovative outcome of the firm. Finally, this study contributes to the family
business literature by confirming the moderating effect of family social capital. The finding
not only confirms the importance of family social capital, (Gedajlovic, Honig, Moore, Payne,
and Wright, 2013) but highlights the boundary conditions as to how managers’ stewardship
has a bearing on explorative orientation. On the other hand, the company’s connection with
external resources, through family members’ outreach, plays a significant role in fostering
corporate entrepreneurship.
Stewardship orientation (H1)
1. Comprehensive decision making
2. Participative governance
3. Long-term orientation
Explorative orientation
Family social capital
New product development
H3
H2
H4
Figure 1 The Research Framework