Dötschel E, Junge S (2026)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2026
Article Number: 100716
DOI: 10.1016/j.jfbs.2026.100716
Explorative learning is crucial for firms’ long-term success; however, academic knowledge of the implications of socioemotional wealth (SEW) of founding family influence in publicly listed firms remains limited to small and medium-sized enterprises and survey-based studies. This study addresses this gap by investigating the nexus between founding family influence in public firms and the tendency to engage in exploration. Specifically, we analyze family-founded S&P 500 firms, hypothesizing and investigating the effect of founding family influence on firms’ relative exploration orientation via a longitudinal content analysis. We determine that while founding family influence negatively affects firms’ relative exploration orientation, the presence of a family founder CEO does not significantly strengthen this effect, and a nonfounding family CEO (i.e., a CEO from a distinct family to the founding family) mitigates this negative relationship. This study contributes to the research on founding family influence, SEW and organizational learning.
APA:
Dötschel, E., & Junge, S. (2026). Founding family firms and exploration orientation: Analysis of S&P 500 firms. Journal of Family Business Strategy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfbs.2026.100716
MLA:
Dötschel, Eva, and Sebastian Junge. "Founding family firms and exploration orientation: Analysis of S&P 500 firms." Journal of Family Business Strategy (2026).
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