Are Family Firms innovative? Despite the topic is increasingly capturing the attention of researchers, it is not so easy to find an answer. In fact, according to some studies they are more innovative than non-family firms, but they seem to suffer from the ability-willingness paradox, meant as “innovating less despite having the ability to do more”. The cause of these mixed results can lie in the overlooking of an important element: the context. The context in its broader conception refers to geographical and institutional dimensions, and both can be either detrimental or beneficial to innovation. The study aims at identifying how Italian family SMEs innovate within the “Impresa 4.0” framework. In particular, by mean of exploration of family and strategy characteristics, innovation factors and the most important dimensions of “Impresa 4.0” plan , in relation to 8 family SMEs belonging to the “PMI innovative” list –, the study provides a framework for family owners to innovate. Along with this, interesting insights and practical implications for policy makers are provided. Moreover, paths for future research are pointed out.
Le aziende familiari sono innovative? Nonostante il tema stia catturando sempre più l'attenzione dei ricercatori, non è così facile trovare una risposta. Secondo alcuni studi, infatti, sono più innovative delle aziende non familiari, ma sembrano soffrire del cosiddetto “Ability-Willingness paradox , inteso come "innovare meno pur avendo la capacità di fare di più". La causa di questi risultati contrastanti può risiedere nella trascuratezza di un elemento importante: il contesto. Il contesto, nella sua concezione più ampia, si riferisce a dimensioni geografiche e istituzionali, ed entrambe possono essere dannose o benefiche per l'innovazione. Lo studio si propone di individuare come le PMI italiane a conduzione familiare, innovano nel quadro di "Impresa 4.0". In particolare, attraverso l'esplorazione delle caratteristiche della famiglia e della strategia, dei fattori di innovazione e delle dimensioni più importanti del piano "Impresa 4.0", in relazione a 8 PMI familiari appartenenti alla lista "PMI innovative", lo studio fornisce agli owner di imprese familiari un framework per innovare con successo. A ciò si aggiungono spunti di riflessione e implicazioni pratiche per i Policy Makers. Vengono inoltre indicati i percorsi per la ricerca futura.
The challenge of family firm innovation : an exploratory study of Impresa 4.0 in Italian family SMEs
Annoni, Chiara
2019/2020
Abstract
Are Family Firms innovative? Despite the topic is increasingly capturing the attention of researchers, it is not so easy to find an answer. In fact, according to some studies they are more innovative than non-family firms, but they seem to suffer from the ability-willingness paradox, meant as “innovating less despite having the ability to do more”. The cause of these mixed results can lie in the overlooking of an important element: the context. The context in its broader conception refers to geographical and institutional dimensions, and both can be either detrimental or beneficial to innovation. The study aims at identifying how Italian family SMEs innovate within the “Impresa 4.0” framework. In particular, by mean of exploration of family and strategy characteristics, innovation factors and the most important dimensions of “Impresa 4.0” plan , in relation to 8 family SMEs belonging to the “PMI innovative” list –, the study provides a framework for family owners to innovate. Along with this, interesting insights and practical implications for policy makers are provided. Moreover, paths for future research are pointed out.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/170347