The propensity toward inter-organizational cooperation in small- and medium-sized family businesses

The goal of this paper is to explore the propensity toward inter-organizational cooperation in small- and medium-sized family businesses as compared to non-family businesses, and to assess the factors that could influence the establishment of collaborative agreements at the family-business level. We apply transaction governance theories and resource-based views as theoretical perspectives to analyze a sample of 272 Italian family and non-family small- to medium-sized enterprises. Results suggest that family firms are less likely to establish cooperation agreements as compared to non-family firms. Among family firms, cooperation propensity is influenced both by the generation in charge and by the stage of the succession process. Our results contribute to the family business literature, indicating that the inter-organizational strategies of family firms are influenced both by the dynamics of trust formation and by the characteristics of the family-business resource configuration.

► The goal is to explore the inter-organizational cooperation strategies in family business. ► The research was carried out on a sample of 272 small to medium firms. ► Family firms are less likely to establish cooperation agreements than nonfamily firms. ► The cooperation propensity is influenced by the firm's generation and succession process.