Salvatore Sciascia

Purpose: When adversity hits, CEO's leadership is determinant in interpreting, responding to and recovering from shocks. Yet, despite extensive research on corporate resilience across macro-, meso- and micro-levels, little is known about the individual-level drivers through which CEOs shape the firm's ability to recover quickly. Building on upper echelons theory, we examine how CEO tenure functions as a double-edged sword, balancing accumulated experience against risks of rigidity, and whether CEOs' risk-taking moderates this relationship. Design/methodology/approach: We draw on a panel of non-financial firms listed on Euronext Milan from 2013 to 2023. Corporate resilience is operationalized as the time needed to recover from episodes of financial distress, estimated through a Cox Proportional Hazards model. Findings: Our results reveal a U-shaped relationship between CEO tenure and corporate resilience in terms of time to recovery. Recovery time decreases, thus increasing corporate resilience, during the mid-phase of a CEO's tenure when experiential learning and organizational knowledge are at their peak, thereby enhancing resilience. Additionally, CEO risk-taking negatively moderates this relationship: a higher risk propensity increases the likelihood that CEOs pursue rapid actions to overcome distress, further boosting resilience. Originality/value: By framing resilience as time to recovery, our study shows that CEO tenure and risk-taking orientation are key factors in corporate resilience, bridging two largely separate research domains: leadership studies and resilience research.

ESG practices offer various benefits for family firms; however, there has been limited focus on how these practices can specifically advantage the owning family. To address this gap, we conduct a multiple-case study of six Italian family firms. Responding to recent calls for research (Stock et al., 2024) and building on the growing literature on ESG in family business, we adopt the family as the primary unit of analysis and investigate the outcomes that the owning family derives from the firm's ESG practices. Our findings reveal that engagement in ESG fosters a set of interrelated, family-level outcomes. We conceptualize these outcomes as Continuity, Alignment, Relationships, and Ethics (summarized as C.A.R.E.), four concepts that are reinforced, nurtured, and developed through sustained ESG engagement. These concepts together function as key intangible resources that contribute to the long-term success of family businesses.

This study investigates how successors, by acting entrepreneurially, contribute to family firm transgenerational value creation. By focusing on the transgenerational value creation process, we investigate transgenerational entrepreneurship in family businesses under successor leadership. Employing a multiple case study approach, we analyse 15 Italian family firms, based on direct interviews, follow-ups, field observations, and approximately 300 historical documents spanning the period 1894 to 2023. Our findings reveal how individual, contextual, business, and familial drivers, alone or in combination, point to various pathways influencing entrepreneurial outcomes, thereby reflecting the diverse forms of successor entrepreneurship. Specifically, we develop a taxonomy comprising five entrepreneurial profiles: revolutioner, orchestrator, venturer, renewer, and improver. Our findings offer novel insights into the family business and entrepreneurship literature, along with practical implications and potential contributions to regional development.

Since its inception, research on Integrated Reporting (IR) has progressed along multiple paths. Yet two critical questions remain underexplored: (1) whether the quality—rather than mere adoption—of IR is value relevant, and (2) how the legal environment might moderate this relationship. This study addresses these gaps using a panel dataset of 78 IR adopters, identified as leading practices by the International Integrated Reporting Council, over the 2017–2020 period. The findings contribute to the IR literature in two ways. First, building on the relatively underexplored theoretical perspective of proprietary cost theory, this study integrates it with agency theory to analyze the impact of IR disclosure quality. The study shows that IR quality has a positive association with firm value, illustrating that quality matters above and beyond adoption alone. Second, the study complements agency theory with neo-institutional theory to further investigate the relationship between IR disclosure quality and capital market outcomes. Results demonstrate that this relationship is moderated by the legal context: it is stronger in countries (a) where IR is voluntary and (b) with civil law legal systems. These insights suggest that regulators should not only encourage IR adoption but also nudge higher-quality disclosures. Aware of these benefits, managers may further fine-tune IR quality to maximize its impact on the firm’s market value.

Network embeddedness is a crucial factor in the international growth of family businesses. However, the blurred boundaries between family and business, along with the pursuit of socioemotional goals, make it deeply intertwined with both business growth and family dynamics. Using a case study of a fifth-generation Italian family firm in the wine industry, this study examines the co-evolution of network embeddedness, family dynamics, and international growth. Findings reveal that network embeddedness facilitates internationalization but also impacts family relationships and socioemotional goals. Strong embeddedness often leads to non-transferable personal ties, resulting in market overlap among family managers. This underscores the need for new generations to build their own networks to gain legitimacy within the family. While network embeddedness supports initial international expansion, over-embeddedness and the non-transferability of networks can hinder professionalization and restrict further growth. Moreover, it influences family dynamics, creating tensions and role overlaps that depend on strong familial harmony and the balancing role of earlier generations. This study bridges the literature on network embeddedness and internationalization in family businesses, offering insights into their dynamic interplay over time.

Wars have always impacted society and economies. Today, more than ever, recent geopolitical tensions and armed conflicts – such as the Russo-Ukrainian war and the Arab-Israeli conflict – are affecting the global landscape, with effects reverberating to both local and worldwide economies, affecting business survival and their societal responsibilities. Businesses are presented with unique challenges for firms. Consequently, research on business challenges and responses to the wartime economy is timely and relevant. By identifying and examining five domains (i.e., financial, organizational, competitive, social, and psychological) we review the literature on war and firms, identifying challenges faced by businesses and offering insights into this topic. Then, we shed light into how family firms can leverage their strengths to transform challenges into opportunities, thereby informing management studies on ways to navigate the wartime economy. Lastly, we present a research agenda and practical lessons for family business and management studies to navigate turbulent times and ensure long-term success.

Despite significant growth in strategic management literature, research on firm-level capabilities in family business remains fragmented. This paper aims to consolidate this field by comprehensively examining ordinary and dynamic capabilities in family firms. Drawing on the theoretical foundations of the resource-based view and dynamic capability theories, we conducted a systematic literature review of relevant theoretical and empirical studies, including 76 journal ar ticles, spanning a period of more than 20 years. The study proposes a framework that systematizes the literature, outlining main drivers (e.g., family influence and other factors), types of capabilities (ordinary and dynamic), and related outcomes (competitive, financial, and non-financial). The review emphasizes the critical role of family influence—in terms of family business status and family involvement—in shaping capability development and highlights the importance of family behavioral dynamics, including familiness and socioemotional wealth. Finally, the study identifies gaps in existing literature and proposes research questions to guide future research.