Exploring the entrepreneurial Behavior of Family Firms: Does the Stewardship Perspective explain Differences?

Drawing from stewardship theory we investigate corporate entrepreneurship in family firms. We argue that stewardship culture determinants - comprehensive strategic decision-making, participative governance, long-term orientation and human capital -differentiate the most entrepreneurial family firms. Based on a study of 179 family firms, we show that comprehensive strategic decision-making and long-term orientation contribute to corporate entrepreneurship. Additionally, family-to-firm unity enhances the positive effects participative governance and long-term orientation have on corporate entrepreneurship. While we found that family-to-firm unity can compensate for low human capital, unexpectedly, we also found that family-to-firm unity can dampen the positive relationship between human capital and corporate entrepreneurship