Resource orchestration in family firms: investigating how entrepreneurial orientation, generational involvement, and participative strategy affect performance

Drawing on the process of resource orchestration, we argue a co-alignment of multiple factors is needed for family fi rms to increase performance through entrepreneurship. Specifi cally, we posit that entrepreneurial orientation provides the mobilizing vision to use the heterogeneous yet complementary knowledge and experiences offered by increased generational involvement toward entrepreneurship. However, without a coordinating mechanism, generational involvement leads to confl ict and negative outcomes. When, instead, it is also coordinated via a participative strategy, performance gains are achieved. In sum, results suggest that realizing the benefi ts from entrepreneurship in family fi rms is a complicated matter affected by the synchronization of entrepreneurial orientation, generational involvement, and participative strategy.