The Impact of COVID-19 on the Internationalization Performance of Family Businesses: Evidence from Portugal

Abstract

Drawing on the internationalization and family business literature, this preliminary and exploratory study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the internationalization performance of family firms. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on the internationalization strategy of Portuguese family firms. Using a questionnaire survey of private family firms, this paper adopts a quantitative approach. Our analysis of data from a single survey of 127 family firms shows that these firms mostly use the Uppsala model of internationalization. The results indicate that COVID-19 has a very negative and statistically significant impact on the different components of the internationalization performance of family businesses. This study contributes significantly to a better understanding of the impact of uncertainty caused by epidemiological scenarios on the strategy and performance of family firms.