Family firm internationalization: A configurational approach

Despite the growing interest in family firm internationalization, academics and practitioners still disagree about the role of external resources in family firms' internationalization processes. This study identifies configurations of external resources that lead to the successful internationalization of family firms. The study also explores how configurations differ depending on family firms' socioemotional wealth (SEW) endowment. Configurations are combinations of 1) external ownership, 2) the presence of a non-family CEO, 3) the presence of non-family members on the advisory board, and 4) international networks. By applying fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to a sample of 426 family firms, the study highlights several optimal configurations of external resources that lead to the successful internationalization of family firms. These configurations relate to different degrees of SEW endowment, suggesting that family firms are willing to accept dependence on external resources by shifting their strategic reference point (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.