The Conversion Rate of R&D into Technological Innovation in Family-Managed Firms Under Vulnerability

Abstract

This paper primarily questions whether under vulnerability, decision-makers will be able to turn R&D into technological innovation more efficiently in order to increase the likelihood of firm survival (Palmer & Wiseman, 1999), using divergences between current firm performance and both historical and social performance as indicators of aspirations gaps (Lant, 1992; Wiseman & Gómez-Mejia, 1998). Then, we look whether the level family management and the level of slack may moderate the effect of performance below aspiration levels on the relationship between R&D intensity and the likelihood of obtaining technological innovation.