The influence of ownership structure and board strategic involvement on international sales: The moderating effect of family involvement

This paper contributes to the family business and the international business literature by analysing whether and to what extent different compositions of the ownership structure and degrees of board strategic involvement impact on the level of international sales of family and non-family businesses. Our main hypotheses are tested on a sample of 342 Norwegian firms via regression analysis. The results from this study show the existence, in both in family and non-family businesses, of a positive and significant relationship between foreign investors’ ownership and the level of international sales. Furthermore, the relationship between CEO ownership impacts negatively on international sales in both family and non-family businesses. While board strategic involvement contributes positively to international sales in non-family businesses it becomes not significant when we only look at family businesses. Implications for theory and practice and future research directions are discussed.

► The presence of foreign investors increases international sales in both FBs and non-FBs.
► CEO ownership decreases international sales in both FBs and non-FBs.
► Board strategic involvement increases international sales only in non-FBs.