Family Governance at Work: Organizing for New Product Development in Family SMEs

Abstract

A growing body of research is concerned with how family governance influences innovation. Yet the organizational issues that family governance engenders for innovation processes have been largely overlooked. In a study of six small- and medium-size family enterprises, we investigate the design decisions that fit family and business logics to create high-performing new product development programs. Our results reveal three design principles concerning teams, leadership, and incentives that diverge from customary approaches of organizing for new product development, adding important dimensions to the determinants of successful new product development in small- and medium-size family enterprises.