Title
Prof. Dr.
Last Name
Zellweger
First name
Thomas
Email
thomas.zellweger@unisg.ch
ORCID
Phone
+41 71 224 71 00
Google Scholar
1 - 4 of 4
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PublicationTurning Agents into Psychological Principals: Aligning Interests of Non-Owners Through Psychological OwnershipPrincipals who delegate tasks to agents face the perennial challenge of overcoming agency problems. We investigate whether feelings of ownership among senior managers in the absence of formal ownership can align agents' interests with those of principals, thus turning agents into psychological principals. Using a moderated mediation model, we find that psychological ownership is positively related to company performance through the mediating effect of individual-level entrepreneurial behaviour. We also find that the effect of psychological ownership on individual-level entrepreneurial behaviour and, ultimately, company performance is weaker for high levels of monitoring compared to low levels. These findings offer important contributions to agency, psychological ownership, and entrepreneurship literatures.
Scopus© Citations 108 -
PublicationSocioemotional Wealth, Ambidexterity, and Family Firm Performance: An Empirical StudyWhile family business literature agrees that family firms are driven by both non-economic and financial motives, it is unclear how the prioritization of socioemotional wealth (SEW) over financial considerations affects family firms' financial performance. Based on a sample of 343 family firm owners from German-speaking Europe, this study reveals a significant and positive relationship between the firm owners' SEW considerations and their family businesses' financial performance. This relationship, in turn, is found to be mediated by organizational ambidexterity. A fine-grained analysis of the different SEW dimensions indicates that this pattern may be driven by two elements of socioemotional wealth only (family members' identification with the firm and emotional attachment). Our findings demonstrate that business families do not necessarily face a trade-off when prioritizing the preservation of their SEW over stabilizing or improving the financial performance of their business. The study enriches several streams of literature and opens up numerous avenues for future research.
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PublicationSuccession Intentions Across the Globe: The Role of Institutional FactorsWhile succession intentions have received increasing scholarly attention in recent years, there is a lack of knowledge about country-level antecedents and differences. Our paper aims to close this gap by investigating succession intentions of 6,360 students with family business background from 26 countries. More specifically, we blend theory of planned behavior with institutional theory and find that institutional variables such as individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and the level of corruption explain the formation of succession intentions over and above traditional theory of planned behavior elements. In addition, we reveal a U-shaped relationship between a nation's level of economic development and the strength of succession intentions. This indicates the existence of two types of succession intentions: necessity and opportunity succession. These findings add valuable insights to literature on family businesses, succession, theory of planned behavior, and practice.
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PublicationToward an Institutional Extension of Theory of Planned Behavior : The Case of Succession IntentionsThe present paper blends theory of planned behavior with institutional theory to predict career choice intentions of students with family business background. Probing a sample of 6’360 students with family business background from 26 countries we find that institutional variables such as individualistic culture, uncertainty avoidance, and the level of corruption explain the formation of succession intentions over and above traditional theory of planned behavior measures. In addition, we identify a U-shaped relationship between a nation’s level of economic development and the strength of succession intentions, indicating the existence of two types of succession motives, necessity and opportunity succession. These findings constitute valuable contributions to literature on theory of planned behavior, succession in family firms, and practice.