Dr. Llanos-Contreras, Orlando

Ibero-America has been getting increasing attention from scholars in the last few years. Thus, management, finance and marketing research on firms and market functioning in countries from this region has been published in leading journals (e.g. De-la-Hoz and Pombo, 2016; Gomez-Mejia et al., 2007; Jimenez-Jimenez and Sanz-Valle, 2011). To keep learning about the “Challenges and Trends in Management for Ibero-America” is important for supporting new research on studies from Ibero-American countries. For building theory, contributions to this topic should not only respond to unsolved questions on the current literature, but also identify new challenges in terms of theoretical gaps, methods and new areas of research (Easterby-Smith et al., 2012; Eisenhardt and Graebner, 2007; Martinez et al., 2011). Hence, articles within this special issue have been selected looking to meet these criteria. This special issue published eight articles presenting the work of nineteen scholars from eighteen universities of ten different countries. These articles relate to topics on general management, sport management, knowledge management, marketing and finance. The articles’ approaches include quantitative approach based on primary data (survey), a quantitative approach based on secondary information, a qualitative multimethod approach, a mixed method combining qualitative content analysis with quantitative data analysis, a mixed method but using regression and qualitative compared analysis and an experimental design.

Using the socioemotional wealth perspective has resulted in significant advances in the understanding of family firms since this model was proposed in 2007. It is considered the most challenging theoretical framework for these organisations developed in recent years. Based on a systematic literature review from the Web of Science, 120 articles published from 2007 to 2018 were reviewed. The results show that an increasing number of works based on socioemotional wealth have been published to respond to research questions on various topics regarding family businesses. The citations of these articles have also increased greatly, confirming the pervasive influence this perspective has had. This paper explains the principles behind the socioemotional wealth perspective and how it has been used in a number of empirical and theoretical studies. It also proposes an initial discussion of two research questions on a new topic where this perspective has potential to close gaps in existing research.

The success of women-owned businesses with regard to the stages of economic development of countries is under-examined on a global basis. This study explores the relationship between country economic and political contexts and assesses the importance of entrepreneurs’ networks and managerial skills on women’s entrepreneurial success. The research uses data from 22 countries chosen from multi-dimensional country context constructs (i.e., select economic and political factors) and measures both family and external moral and financial support and managerial skills. The results show that stock (managerial skill) and flow (family and non-family support) differentially influence women’s entrepreneurial success in countries at varying levels of competitive development. In particular, the results confirm the positive influence of managerial skills and family moral and financial support on women’s entrepreneurial success (based on annual income) in countries at a higher level of competitive development and confirm their negative influence in countries at a lower level of competitive growth. Moreover, the results reveal influences of non-family financial support (positive for highly competitive countries) on income but not nonfamily moral support. Public policy implications are discussed.

Although the number of women entrepreneurs has increased in recent years, it is still lower than that of men. In addition, although the sports sector has been characterized by its growth in recent years and contributes to the GDP of the countries by generating employment, the role that this has within female entrepreneurship has never been analysed. Therefore, the objective of this study is to know the combinations of conditions (female employment in sports, government support, financing for entrepreneurs, perception of entrepreneurial opportunities and capacities, glass ceiling index and masculine values in society) that generate high levels of female entrepreneurship in the countries of the European Union, as these values are closer to the male TEA (Total Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Activity). A total of 13 European countries were analysed using the fsQCA methodology. The results show that, for high levels of female TEA, the main combination is high levels of government support*high levels of glass ceiling index*low levels of masculinity*low levels of opportunities perception and high levels of female employment in sport, explaining 45% of the cases. The results present a series of implications for improving female entrepreneurship in the European Union countries.

Natural disasters (e.g., earthquakes and pandemics) negatively affect firms and their stakeholders. These disasters disrupt the operations of firms and lives of people by generating a shock in the system. Small firms are especially vulnerable to the shocks and disturbances resulting from these disasters. Since small firms, especially family firms, are key economic contributors and agents of recovery in any community, understanding their post-disaster recovery processes is critical. Therefore, this study examines the post-disaster recovery processes of small family firms. We utilize a grounded theory approach to analyze and propose that resources and socioemotional wealth priorities influence the post-disaster recovery of small family firms. Utilizing the 8.8 Richter scale earthquake in Chile in 2010 as a natural disaster, we examine the eight-year lagged data of 20 small family firms with disrupted operations. Our findings have important implications for small firms experiencing the negative consequences of disruptions, including those experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic-induced disruption.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the image transfer theory and the elaboration likelihood model can provide a theoretical framework capable of assessing the influence of consumers’ product involvement and family firms’ identity communication through websites on consumer responses. This research conducted an experiment using an eye‐tracking technique measuring attention to family and nonfamily corporate websites. The procedure involved 120 participants. Consistent with the image transfer theory, family firms’ identity through websites positively impacts attitude toward the website and intention to buy. Additionally, the attitude toward the website affects the relationship between family firms’ identity through websites and the intention to buy. In line with the elaboration likelihood model, consumers’ product involvement negatively impacts the relationship between family firms’ identity through websites and intention to buy.

Attracting business college graduates is a major challenge for the growth and transgenerational success of family firms. Moreover, the institutional context of countries is critical in explaining family firms’ potential advantages and/or disadvantages in attracting nonfamily talent. This study aims to elucidate how communicating firm ownership (family vs. nonfamily), firm size (large vs. small), and type of job offered (professional vs. nonprofessional) influences the perceptions and attitudes of Latin American business graduates toward working in such firms. In an experimental study that uses job advertisement stimuli, we found that communicating family ownership positively influences career development’s perceptions of firm prestige. Large (vs. small) firm size also has a positive influence on job seekers’ perceptions of firms. Importantly, both firm prestige and career development positively influence the attraction of working in family firms. In this paper, we discuss the differences in the results among countries and professional vs. nonprofessional job positions advertised. The results have several implications for family firm owners and managers.

Family firms’ risk-taking behaviour is central to these firms’ ability to recover from major loses after a natural disaster. Natural disasters pose a threat to family firms’ continuity, a primary goal for this type of firm. Accordingly, it is necessary to understand how socioemotional wealth importance and entrepreneurial orientation interact to influence family firms’ ownership risk, performance hazard risk and control risk in a post-disaster scenario. Using a sample of family firms from the Bío-Bío region in Chile, which was devastated by a massive earthquake in 2010, we performed partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The PLS-SEM results partially support our hypotheses. The fsQCA results provide three, six and seven causal configurations that explain 34%, 67% and 72% of ownership risk, performance hazard risk and control risk, respectively. This article shows that the interaction between socioemotional wealth importance and entrepreneurial orientation is important to explain risk-taking behaviour by family firms in a post-disaster scenario.

The purpose of this paper is to determine how family and business priorities influence organisational decline and turnaround in a family business. Design/methodology/approach – Following critical realism as philosophical orientation, this research is based on an exploratory single case study. Findings–This research identified specific socioemotional wealth priorities driving is organisation decline and turn around. The study also determined how the family and business Dynamic leads to decisions that first trigger the organisational decline and then explain the successful implementation of turnaround strategies. Research limitation/implications – Findings of this research provide limited and contingent theoretical generalisation. Accordingly, replication and further quantitative research is required for a better understanding of this phenomenon. Practical implications – Managers can benefit from this paper by noting which behaviour could lead to organisational decline and which factors could lead to a turnaround. Similarly, managers can learn about the importance of the alignment of socioemotional wealth priorities as a critical response factor to determine whether to follow exit strategies or turnaround (succession) actions. Originality value – The study contributes to the organisational decline literature and family business literature. It advances the understanding of how family businesses should balance family and business priorities to avoid organisational decline and identify strategies success fully implemented for turning around.

Purpose: This paper investigates the influence of firms' communication in terms of family firm identity and country-of-origin on consumer response. Design/methodology/approach: A self-supplied online experiment in Chile and Spain is employed using as dependent variables brand trust and intention to buy. The experiment includes the following factors: family firm identity (family vs non-family), country of origin (national vs foreign) and as a manipulation check (type of product: hedonic vs utilitarian). Findings: The results indicate that communicating the family firm identity increases brand trust and purchase intention. Consumers show higher scores on trust and purchase intention when exposed to national country of origin products. The effect of the variability on the dependent variables is greater when the family firm identity is communicated. Trust and purchase intention are different in Chilean and Spanish consumers when the family firm identity is combined with a national country of origin cue. Originality/value: This article contributes to family business theory by exploring how to capitalize on the family firm identity component in brand communication. It also contributes to the theory of corporate brand identity by proposing a communication model oriented toward consumer behavior. It also examines firms' communication (family firm identity and country-of-origin) on consumer.