Lee, C. J., Lee, C. Y., and Wu, H. L. 2017. Entrepreneurial Behavior in Family Business: The Investigation on the Relationship among Steward-Like Managers, Explorative Orientation and New Product Development. NTU Management Review, 27 (4): 131-168. https://doi.org/10.6226/NTUMR.2017.MAY.A103-012
Chia-Jung Lee, Assistant Professor, Institute of Human Resource Management, National Sun Yat-Sen University
Cheng-Yu Lee, Associate professor, Department of Industrial Management and Information, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology
Hsueh-Liang Wu, Professor, Department of International Business, National Taiwan University
Abstract
Although the literature on entrepreneurial behavior of family firms continues to accumulate, the causes behind such behavior remain inconclusive. While some scholars view family businesses as breeding grounds of innovation and entrepreneurship, others consider family businesses to be conservative and resistant to change. Drawing on the stewardship perspective, this study aims to argue how managers’ stewardship orientation, in terms of decision comprehensiveness, participative governance and long-term orientation, shapes firm innovativeness through altering the company-wide explorative orientation. In a sample of 186 Taiwanese family firms, the empirical results show that stewardship orientation drives managers to initiate explorative activities which, in turn, enhance the performance of new product development (NPD). Furthermore, the NPD performance effect of stewardship orientation is strengthened in conjunction with family social capital. Our study contributes to entrepreneurship literature by highlighting the importance of managers’ stewardship orientation to the entrepreneurial orientation and the innovation outcome in the context of family business.
Keywords
stewardshipfamily businessnew product developmentfamily social capital