Family Firms (FFs) form the majority of all firms around the world and they account for an enormous percentage of the employment, the revenue, and the GDP of most capitalist countries. While MNCs have long been thought of as the main contributors to international business, it is now recognised that a substantial number of family firms are active in the international arena. This handbook focuses on the features which make family firm internationalization unique. Chapters provide FF specific theories and cover the process of FF internationalization. It examines the role of network ties and provides an insight into the development of family firms that have grown into big multinationals. Importantly this Handbook equips you with a better understanding of specific features of family firms as they internationalize from or to Asian or emerging markets. Family firms offer a fruitful context to study internationalization through a process perspective, therefore this Handbook is an invaluable source of knowledge for students, scholars and policy makers in the areas of family business, entrepreneurship and internationalization.

This book offers an integrated discussion on international entry mode decisions in the context of family firms. It provides scholars and students a state-of-the art of extant knowledge on family firms' entry modes into foreign contexts by outlining main research trajectories and empirical findings of prior studies. To this end, differences between family and non-family firms as well as sources of heterogeneity across different family firms are pointed out for the main types of entry modes. Moreover, this book offers new insights on the choice between either creating a joint venture or a wholly-owned subsidiary in a foreign country as it theoretically and empirically shows how economic and noneconomic drivers shape family leaders' international strategic preferences. Offering a thoughtful review of extant studies and a comprehensive reasoning on the phenomenon of family firm internationalization, this is an insightful read for scholars and students interested in family firms and international business. Claudia Pongelli holds a Ph.D. in Management from LUISS University (Rome, Italy) where she has also been a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Business and Management. Since 2018, she has been Affiliate Research Fellow at IPAG Entrepreneurship & Family Business Center (Nice, France) and is currently a Research Fellow at the Department of Management and Law, University of Rome Tor Vergata (Rome, Italy). She also teaches International Business as an Adjunct Professor, both at LUISS University and Università San Raffaele Roma.

Drawing on a series of case studies from Finland, this book examines the role of networking in the internationalisation process of family firms. Providing a comprehensive overview of recent literature alongside the empirical analysis of 24 family firms, the authors use theoretical concepts from family business research to create a model specifically for the internationalisation and networking of family firms. An insightful read for those interested in international and small business, this book offers practical implications for the successful internationalisation of family firms and sets the agenda for future research in the field of family business.

This book offers an integrated discussion on international entry mode decisions in the context of family firms. It provides scholars and students a state-of-the art of extant knowledge on family firms’ entry modes into foreign contexts by outlining main research trajectories and empirical findings of prior studies. To this end, differences between family and non-family firms as well as sources of heterogeneity across different family firms are pointed out for the main types of entry modes. Moreover, this book offers new insights on the choice between either creating a joint venture or a wholly-owned subsidiary in a foreign country as it theoretically and empirically shows how economic and noneconomic drivers shape family leaders’ international strategic preferences. Offering a thoughtful review of extant studies and a comprehensive reasoning on the phenomenon of family firm internationalization, this is an insightful read for scholars and students interested in family firms and international business.

Many of the large multinational firms that dominate world markets were family firms, and many of them continue to be. This title shows that family firms have always been active agents in the global economy. It features practical examples and case studies of multinational family firms.

In this new textbook, Andrea Colli gives a historical and comparative perspective on family business, examining through time the different relationships within family businesses and among family enterprises, inside different political and institutional contexts. He compares the performance of family businesses with that of other economic organizations, and looks at how these enterprises have contributed to the evolution of contemporary industrial capitalism. Central to his discussion are the reasons for both the decline and persistence of family business, how it evolved historically, the different forms it has taken over time, and how it has contributed to the growth of single economies. The book summarises previous research into family business, and situates many aspects of family business - such as their strategies, contribution, failure and decline - in an economic, social, political and institutional context. It will be of key interest to students of economic history and business studies.