Decision-Making in Family Firms — Contingency Factors for Startup Innovations

Abstract

As family firms seek to remain competitive, collaborations with startups offer access to entrepreneurial talent, emerging technologies, and agile business models. However, such stra- tegic decisions are shaped by the distinctive governance structures and long-term orientation of family firms. This study investigates how the perceived suitability of startup collaboration in- fluences both the likelihood and breadth of engagement, and how governance structures— founder-led, family-managed, or externally managed—moderate these relationships. Drawing on the resource-based view and strategic fit theory, survey data from 82 family firms were an-alyzed using regression techniques. Results show that perceived suitability significantly in-creases both the probability of collaboration and the number of startup partners. Moderation analysis reveals that founder-led firms are more responsive to perceived fit in their collaboration decisions, while no moderating effect was found for breadth. These findings contribute to fam-ily business research by identifying perceived suitability as a key antecedent of collaborative behavior and introducing governance structure as a contextual moderator. Practical implications underscore the importance of strategic alignment and governance context in forming effective partnerships between family firms and startups.