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Surviving the unprecedented: family firms under COVID-19

Alessandro Bressan (School of Business, The University of Notre Dame Australia, NSW, Australia)
Abel Duarte Alonso (The Business School, RMIT International University Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam)
Oanh Thi Kim Vu (The Business School, RMIT International University Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam)
Daniel Borer (The Business School, RMIT International University Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam)

Management Research Review

ISSN: 2040-8269

Article publication date: 17 April 2023

Issue publication date: 17 October 2023

218

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine factors contributing to family firms’ survival in the ongoing COVID-19 crisis; in this endeavour, the study espouses the underpinnings of social exchange theory and entrepreneurial resilience.

Design/methodology/approach

The views of 128 Italian family micro and small-sized firm owners/managers operating in different industries were gathered through an online questionnaire.

Findings

The analysis uncovers 12 fundamental factors contributing to firms’ survival; these are encapsulated in three dimensions and presented in two theoretical frameworks. The “beneficiary” dimension stresses the support from various internal and external stakeholders, while the “benefactor” dimension illustrates the commitment to extend the family tradition and be responsive to stakeholders. Finally, the “immersion/embeddedness” dimension denotes firms’ entrepreneurial behaviour, agility, decision-making and drive.

Originality/value

Firstly, and from a practitioner perspective, this study addresses recognised knowledge and research gaps in contemporary family business research, including how family firms are confronting the current unprecedented crisis. This response to current extant gaps provides first-hand empirical findings that could be primarily considered by industry stakeholders. Secondly, and from a theoretical angle, the aforementioned dimensions revealed through the analysis, coupled with the development of a theoretical framework, contribute to conceptual rigour and, therefore, a deeper understanding of family firms’ journey through an unprecedented event.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the reviewers for their constructive feedback.

No conflict of interest is identified, and no funding was allocated for this research.

Compliance with ethical standards.

Disclosure of potential conflict of interest: There is no conflict of interest in relation to this article.

The research involves human participants: Ethical approval was obtained.

Informed consent: All participants were provided information regarding consent to partake in the research.

Citation

Bressan, A., Duarte Alonso, A., Vu, O.T.K. and Borer, D. (2023), "Surviving the unprecedented: family firms under COVID-19", Management Research Review, Vol. 46 No. 11, pp. 1585-1603. https://doi.org/10.1108/MRR-06-2022-0430

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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