How Family Influence Impacts Dynamic Capabilities for Service Innovation : A single case study in the hospitality industry

• Main Authors: Edberg, Martina, Hammarström, Amanda
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Jönköping University, Internationella Handelshögskolan 2020
• Subjects: Family Firms; Family Influence; Socio-Emotional Wealth; Dynamic Capabilities; Service Innovation; Dynamic Capabilities for Service Innovation; Business Administration; Företagsekonomi
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-48744

With technological advancements rendering customer expectations ever more sophisticated, firms must compete with increasingly complex service offerings to secure their position in the market. For firms in the hospitality industry, innovating their service offerings to cater to these changing customer demands has therefore become a prerequisite to survive. This paper takes a dynamic capability perspective to examine how family firms fare in this rapidly changing environment by examining the role of family influence on their capabilities to engage in service innovation.  The purpose of the study was to describe and explain how family influence impacts dynamic capabilities for service innovation in a family firm within the hospitality industry. The aim of the study was to derive insights on how family influence impacts family firms’ innovation capacity and to stimulate future work in the field of research.  This study is based on an in-depth single case study approach. Empirical data was gathered through semi-structured interviews. Based on a qualitative explorative study using an abductive approach, we were able to develop new combinations of established theoretical models and concepts with findings from our theory and empirical data.  Five attributes of family influence were identified that impact family firms’ capabilities for service innovation - both positively and negatively. The results indicate that family influence can positively impact dynamic sensing capabilitites for service innovation, while the impact of family influence on dynamic seizing and dynamic transforming capabilities for service innovation can be ambiguous. The findings call for continued exploration of the role of family influence on dynamic capabilities for service innovation and family firms’ innovation capacity in general.