Family versus nonfamily business: A comparison of international strategies

The internationalization strategies of family businesses versus nonfamily businesses remain a neglected area of study. This investigation uses a sample of 759 Japanese subsidiaries worldwide that can be identified as family businesses or nonfamily businesses to reveal two key results. First, family businesses establish fewer joint ventures than nonfamily businesses, in relative terms, and resort less to using Sôgô Shôsha, or Japanese general trading companies. This result implies family businesses prefer more to remain independent compared with nonfamily businesses. Second, expatriation policies do not differ significantly between family businesses and nonfamily businesses, contrary to a priori expectations. Differences in the strategic behavior of family businesses and nonfamily businesses therefore do not appear in every aspect of the internationalization process.