{"title":"Founding family firms and exploration orientation: Analysis of S&P 500 firms","authors":"Eva Dötschel, Sebastian Junge","doi":"10.1016/j.jfbs.2026.100716","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Explorative learning is crucial for firms’ long-term success; however, academic knowledge of the implications of socioemotional wealth (SEW) of founding family influence in publicly listed firms remains limited to small and medium-sized enterprises and survey-based studies. This study addresses this gap by investigating the nexus between founding family influence in public firms and the tendency to engage in exploration. Specifically, we analyze family-founded S&P 500 firms, hypothesizing and investigating the effect of founding family influence on firms’ relative exploration orientation via a longitudinal content analysis. We determine that while founding family influence negatively affects firms’ relative exploration orientation, the presence of a family founder CEO does not significantly strengthen this effect, and a nonfounding family CEO (i.e., a CEO from a distinct family to the founding family) mitigates this negative relationship. This study contributes to the research on founding family influence, SEW and organizational learning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47661,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Family Business Strategy","volume":"17 2","pages":"Article 100716"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7000,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Family Business Strategy","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187785852600001X","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/5/6 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BUSINESS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Explorative learning is crucial for firms’ long-term success; however, academic knowledge of the implications of socioemotional wealth (SEW) of founding family influence in publicly listed firms remains limited to small and medium-sized enterprises and survey-based studies. This study addresses this gap by investigating the nexus between founding family influence in public firms and the tendency to engage in exploration. Specifically, we analyze family-founded S&P 500 firms, hypothesizing and investigating the effect of founding family influence on firms’ relative exploration orientation via a longitudinal content analysis. We determine that while founding family influence negatively affects firms’ relative exploration orientation, the presence of a family founder CEO does not significantly strengthen this effect, and a nonfounding family CEO (i.e., a CEO from a distinct family to the founding family) mitigates this negative relationship. This study contributes to the research on founding family influence, SEW and organizational learning.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Family Business Strategy takes an international perspective, providing a platform for research that advances our understanding of family businesses. Welcoming submissions across various dimensions, the journal explores the intricate interplay between family dynamics and business operations, contributing new insights to this specialized field.