Exploring the Entrepreneurial Behavior of Family Firms: Does the Stewardship Perspective Explain Differences?

Drawing from stewardship theory, we investigated corporate entrepreneurship in family firms. We argued that stewardship culture determinantscomprehensive strategic decision making, participative governance, long-term orientation, and human capitaldifferentiate the most entrepreneurial family firms. Based on a study of 179 family firms, we showed that comprehensive strategic decision making and long-term orientation contribute to corporate entrepreneurship. Additionally, family-to-firm unity enhanced the positive effects participative governance and long-term orientation have on corporate entrepreneurship. While we found that family-to-firm unity can compensate for low human capital, unexpectedly, we also found that family-to-firm unity can dampen the positive relationship between human capital and corporate entrepreneurship.