Title: Internationalisation of family firms: the role of networks and coopetition

Authors: Andreas Kallmünzer; Andrea Mauracher; Johanna Gast; Sascha Kraus; Andrea Calabrò

Addresses: La Rochelle Business School - CRIIM, Excelia Group, 102 Rue de Coureilles, 17000 La Rochelle, France ' Department of Strategic Management, Marketing and Tourism, University of Innsbruck, Karl-Rahner-Platz 3, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria ' Montpellier Business School - MRM, 2300, Avenue des Moulins, 34185 Montpellier, France ' École Supérieure du Commerce Extérieur, ESCE International Business School, 10 rue Sextius Michel, 75015 Paris, France ' IPAG Business School, 4, Boulevard Carabacel, 06000 Nice, France

Abstract: Whether and to what extent socioemotional wealth (SEW) influences family firm internationalisation is currently a highly debated topic in family business research. We add the network approach to the debate and, specifically, investigate whether business networks affect family firm internationalisation. We also examine how international entrepreneurial orientation (IEO), as an internal factor, and coopetition, as an external factor, mediate that relationship. We test our hypotheses on a sample of 122 internationally active family firms. Our main findings suggest that business networks positively affect family firm internationalisation if mediated by IEO and negatively if mediated by coopetition. Strong SEW concerns moderate these effects divergently: while SEW negatively affects the positive mediation of IEO, it strengthens the negative mediation of coopetition. These results contribute to our understanding of the importance of networks and entrepreneurship in family firm internationalisation, as well as to the context-specific relevance of socioemotional and coopetitive behaviour.

Keywords: internationalisation; family firm; SEW; IEO; coopetition; networks.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2022.126166

European Journal of International Management, 2022 Vol.18 No.4, pp.495 - 517

Received: 28 Nov 2018
Accepted: 30 Jan 2019
Published online: 14 Oct 2022 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article