Abstract
The paper in question investigates the nature of the internationalization of family businesses and studies how different futures of the company affect the process. The authors discuss the previous literature on the subject and choose stewardship theory as the main theoretical framework for the research. Providing long speculation regarding previous research, the scholars conclude the lack of consistency of the findings and state the necessity for a new study.
To acquire new empirical data, the scholars conduct interviews of directors, chairpersons, and executives of four family companies that operate in Italy and are at the initial stages of internationalization. The articles argue that altruism and trust are the central moderators of the process in question. The small sample size is the primary limitation of the study, and the subject requires further research.
Introduction
The paper is dedicated to an investigation of the nature of the internationalization of family businesses. The authors use data from prior research and theoretical framework of stewardship theory to formulate a set of initial propositions. The scholars gather information about four Italian firms and analyze it to test the propositions. The method of interview is the primary tool for acquiring data. The researchers use the findings to support their initial argument and to draw conclusions regarding the nature of the processes in question.
Identifying Relevant Literature
The authors of the article reference seminal studies of internationalization of family firms and literature on management and stewardship theory as the sources of the theoretical background of their work. In addition to that, the scholars also cite multiple papers on prior research that they use to discuss and explain the current academic understanding of the issue. The authors put particular emphasis on the inconsistencies of the findings from previous studies and conclude that the nature of the process in question remains under-researched (Calabrò, Brogi, & Torchia, 2016).
As the scientific debate regarding the subject is still inconclusive, the scholars outline the necessity for further research as a justification for their work (Calabrò, Brogi, & Torchia, 2016). The reference list includes peer-reviewed academic journals, books, and articles. The bibliograph covers a set of topics related to the study. Some of the used publications are older than ten years, which is not recommended when working on fast-developing subjects (Duffy & Lawler, 2019). The scholars use citations throughout the article to support their argument and provide the sources of the information they take from other works.
Structuring the Review
The paper is divided into two parts, with the first part of the text is focused on the theoretical material. The authors start the discussion by explaining the theoretical foundations of the study. The scholars describe the evolution of the understanding of the subject.
Then, the authors show the shortcomings and limitations of previous works, demonstrating the motivation for their study. The second part of the paper contains information about the multiple case study, providing detail on the examined companies and the interpretations of the findings. However, the authors do not provide information about the analytical tools they apply to work with the data and the necessary calculations. The lack of this information makes it more difficult to assess the reliability of the methodology and speculate about the validity of the interpretations. At the end of the article, the authors conclude their contribution to the scientific debate and consider potential directions for future research.
Tone
The tone of the paper is academic, and the paper uses scientific vocabulary to ensure the accurate delivery of information. At the same time, avoiding excessive usage of jargon and technicalities allows improving the readability of the paper. The researchers conducted a qualitative examination that enables them to work with non-numerical parameters and characteristics (Brannen, 2017). The paper is dedicated to studying the role of aspects such as trust and altruism in the entrepreneurial environment. The character of the work requires interpreting qualitative data, and thus, this method is appropriate for the article (Queirós, Faria, & Almeida, 2017).
The form of a face-to-face interview allows scholars to receive information directly from the respondents, which helps avoid ambiguity and misinterpretation. At the same time, subjectivity and personal involvement of the respondents in the studied processes create a potential source of bias.
Tense
The article uses style and grammar that are traditional for academic writing. Most of the text is written in the present tense, as the research is concerned with the current situation. Present simple makes the writings more comfortable to read and helps avoid unnecessary complexity (Patriotta, 2017). The past tenses are used occasionally to explain information from previous studies and the ideas regarding the subject that dominated the academic discussion previously. The used devices allow the authors to limit themselves with the simplest forms of writing without losing the formal appearance and structure of the article (Hyland & Jiang, 2017). Thus, utilizing simple language and adhering to conventional academic writing allows scholars to deliver the material clearly and effectively.
Summary
Different theories provide various explanations for the nature of the internationalization of family businesses, focusing on different aspects of the process. The authors reflect on the shortcomings of prior research and show the necessity for their study. Looking at the subject through the lenses of stewardship theory, the researchers build their theoretical argument and state a set of three propositions for the paper. The first proposition address the role of incoming generations in the process. The second proposition is concerned with the influence of altruism. It also deals with the impact of the relationship between generations on the internationalization of the firm.
Finally, the third proposition suggests that the trust of the older generation positively mediates the influence of the younger generation’s involvement in the process (Calabrò, Brogi, & Torchia, 2016). The researches choose four Italian companies as a sample for the study, and they used personal interviewing as a means of gathering information. The scholars interpret their findings to support the initial claims and provide their reasoning on the character of relationships between the studied phenomena.
The article concludes that trust and altruisms are vital aspects of the internationalization of a family company. The researchers argue that altruism positively contributes to the process by mitigating risks and conflicts. At the same time, trust facilitates the involvement of new generations (Calabrò, Brogi, & Torchia, 2016). The articles state that these findings contribute to the scientific discussion and have a practical implementation, explaining the mechanisms of the process that can be applied to real businesses.
Limitations
The small sample size is the main limitation of the study. The researchers conducted an investigation of four Italian firms, and they base the conclusions on the findings. The variance of a distribution is in inverse proportion with the sample size (Giri, 2019).
A small sample size leads to a higher variation of the data and might result in inaccurate results (Crowder, 2017). It is logical to assume that, as the research investigates only four examples of family companies, the found relationships between the variables might not be descriptive of the tendencies in the market. The data from the four chosen companies are not necessarily representative of the real situation regarding the process of internationalization of family businesses.
In addition to that, all the organizations described in the article exhibit some common futures. For instance, all four companies are quite successful in the internal market, and they started in Italy. Making inferences about the general tendency regarding the issue from a few particular instances might lead to inaccurate conclusions, as the selection method could have influenced the findings (Boddy, 2016). Thus, the fact that the chosen companies are not a random sample of family firms is another limitation of the study.
The fact that the authors use interviews as a tool for acquiring information for the study is also a potential source of limitation. Semi-structured interviews, such as the one that is used in the research, require objectivity to make the results trustworthy (Kallio, Pietilä, Johnson, & Kangasniemi, 2016).
The directors, executive officers, and chairpersons of the companies were asked about the situation in the company. The questions also addressed the decision-making process in the family and the levels of trust and altruism (Calabrò, Brogi, & Torchia, 2016). The respondents might provide biased information for the questions related to the family issues, and other subjects that provoke a personal emotional response (Wallace, Wegener, & Petty, 2019). Thus, It is very likely that the answers for the interview are, at least partially, subjective and, therefore, not reflective of the real situation in the firm and the family.
Conclusion
The authors of the article investigate the process of internationalization of family businesses using data from four Italian firms. The paper makes a new attempt to investigate the subject and provides empirical data. The researchers conclude that the evidence from the study supports the initial propositions. The small size of the sample that is used in the study and other methodological limitations compromise the reliability of the findings. Thus, additional research is needed to develop the theory further, test the propositions, and provide additional evidence regarding the subject.
References
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Brannen, J. (2017). Mixing methods: Qualitative and quantitative research. New York, NY: Routledge.
Calabrò, A., Brogi, M., & Torchia, M. (2016). What does really matter in the internationalization of small and medium‐sized family businesses?. Journal of small business management, 54(2), 679-696.
Crowder, M. J. (2017). Statistical analysis of reliability data. New York, NY: Routledge.
Duffy, A., & Lawler, F. (2019). Getting it right: the art of academic referencing. British Journal of Healthcare Assistants, 13(9), 444-448.
Giri, N. C. (2019). Introduction to probability and statistics. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hyland, K., & Jiang, F. K. (2017). Is academic writing becoming more informal? English for Specific Purposes, 45, 40-51.
Kallio, H., Pietilä, A. M., Johnson, M., & Kangasniemi, M. (2016). Systematic methodological review: developing a framework for a qualitative semi‐structured interview guide. Journal of advanced nursing, 72(12), 2954-2965.
Patriotta, G. (2017). Crafting papers for publication: Novelty and convention in academic writing. Journal of Management Studies, 54(5), 747-759.
Queirós, A., Faria, D., & Almeida, F. (2017). Strengths and limitations of qualitative and quantitative research methods. European Journal of Education Studies, 3(9), 469-386.
Wallace, L. E., Wegener, D. T., & Petty, R. E. (2019). When Sources Honestly Provide Their Biased Opinion: Bias as a Distinct Source Perception With Independent Effects on Credibility and Persuasion. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 0146167219858654.