Open Innovation and Family Business Groups: Anomalies Arising from the Context?

Abstract

Recently, there has been a growing interest in studying innovation activities in the family firm context. In this conceptual paper, we combine previously separate streams of research, open innovation literature, family business innovation and family business group literature to support future research discussion in this challenging context. Our main argument is that when ignoring the multilayered ownership, decision making and operative structures present in family business groups and seeing companies merely as individual, independent and autonomous decision-making units, the view presented in the innovation literature is far too simple and, in a way, flat: it fails to consider some vital elements present in family business groups. By observing different innovation drivers and temporal dynamics present in the family business group (FBG) context, we could also uncover richer nuances in the discussion on open innovation, as well as in family firm innovation research.