Family firm personality: sustainable approach, measurement and validation

Abstract

Purpose – Numerous studies have been carried out concerning the heterogeneity of family firms, but this remains fragmented and there is an incomplete understanding. This is an important research gap that fulfills this study. The purpose of this study is to present a new concept, the family firm personality, in the context of a global sustainability theoretical framework. Moreover, we have developed and validated a Family Firm Personality Scale. Design/methodology/approach – The process to develop and validate the scale has been carried out with 150 (sample 1) and 1683 chief executive officers (sample 2) in different phases: item generations for each domain and content validity, scale development and scale evaluation that test the dimensionality, reliability and validity. Findings – The 31-item Family Firm Personality scale demonstrated strong reliability, validity and psychometric properties. Norms were also developed to facilitate score interpretation. Originality/value – It has introduced a new concept and created and validated a new scale “Family Firm Personality” using a new sustainability framework to analyze the family firm behaviors. The personality of a family firm allows us to explain the heterogeneity among family firms.