Title: Socio-emotional wealth and innovativeness in Italian family firms: what happens when the leader is a latest-generation member?

Authors: Valentina Lazzarotti; Rafaela Gjergji; Federico Visconti

Addresses: School of Industrial Engineering, Università Cattaneo – LIUC, Corso Matteotti 22, 21053 Castellanza (VA), Italy ' School of Economics, Università Cattaneo – LIUC, Corso Matteotti 22, 21053 Castellanza (VA), Italy ' School of Economics, Università Cattaneo – LIUC's Rector, Corso Matteotti 22, 21053 Castellanza (VA), Italy

Abstract: In this study, we attempt a further step in understanding the effect of different socio-emotional (SEW) dimensions on family firm innovativeness by focusing on a particular player, i.e., the young leader who belongs to the last generation of family managers and who is increasingly engaged in the firm management. After surveying young leaders' non-economic goals with respect to those of senior members in a sample of Italian family firms, such goals are analysed in relation to the level of firm innovativeness. Obtained through a hierarchical regression, results show that two SEW dimensions above all characterise young leaders when they foster innovation: a low emotional attachment on one hand, a high attention to nurture binding social ties on the other.

Keywords: family firms; socio-emotional wealth; SEW; young generations; intra-family succession; innovativeness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2020.106929

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2020 Vol.40 No.1, pp.54 - 82

Received: 01 Feb 2018
Accepted: 29 Jun 2018
Published online: 28 Apr 2020 *

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