The present study investigates how family firms respond to disruptive industry changes. We aim to investigate which factors prevent or support family firms’ adoption of disruptive innovations in their industry and which mechanisms lead to more or less successful coping with disruptive change. Our analysis is based on 24 qualitative interviews with top executives and on secondary data from an industry in which disruptive innovations dramatically changed the way business was generated. The industry in question is the mail order industry, which, in its early days, disrupted the retail business. When the Internet and, with it, ecommerce started to disrupt the industry in the late 1990s, the industry was characterized by a high proportion of family firms and a low level of innovativeness. While incumbent firms had been very successful for decades, most of them were confronted with serious turbulence when new entrants started changing the face of the industry. Our findings show that different factors impact reactions to disruptive industry change in two different phases, namely, opportunity recognition and opportunity implementation. While some of the influencing factors are determined by industry factors, family influence may function for better or worse for incumbent firms. Specifically, we find that in firms with a family disruptor, a family member in a powerful position who drives the adoption of the new technology, hindrances can be overcome and firms tend to show more successful strategies when reacting to the disruptive industry change.

本研究调查了家族企业如何应对颠覆性的行业变化。我们旨在调查哪些因素阻止或支持家族企业在其行业中采用破坏性创新，哪些机制导致或多或少成功地应对了破坏性变化。我们的分析基于对高管人员的24次定性采访，以及行业颠覆性创新极大地改变了业务产生方式的行业二次数据。有问题的行业是邮购行业，该行业在成立初期扰乱了零售业务。1990年代后期，当互联网及其电子商务开始扰乱该行业时，该行业的特点是家族企业比例高，创新水平低。尽管现有公司已经取得了数十年的成功，当新进入者开始改变行业面貌时，他们中的大多数人都面临着严重的动荡。我们的发现表明，不同的因素在两个不同的阶段（即机会识别和机会实施）影响对颠覆性行业变化的反应。尽管某些影响因素是由行业因素决定的，但对于现有企业而言，家庭影响可能会变好或变坏。具体而言，我们发现，在具有家庭破坏者的公司中，家庭势力强大且推动采用新技术的公司，可以克服障碍，并且公司在对颠覆性行业变革做出反应时往往会显示出更成功的战略。我们的发现表明，不同的因素在两个不同的阶段（即机会识别和机会实施）影响对颠覆性行业变化的反应。尽管某些影响因素是由行业因素决定的，但对于现有企业而言，家庭影响可能会变好或变坏。具体而言，我们发现，在具有家庭破坏者的公司中，家庭势力强大且推动采用新技术的公司，可以克服障碍，并且公司在对颠覆性行业变革做出反应时往往会显示出更成功的战略。我们的发现表明，不同的因素在两个不同的阶段（即机会识别和机会实施）影响对颠覆性行业变化的反应。尽管某些影响因素是由行业因素决定的，但对于现有企业而言，家庭影响可能会变好或变坏。具体而言，我们发现，在具有家庭破坏者的公司中，家庭势力强大且推动采用新技术的公司，可以克服障碍，并且公司在对颠覆性行业变革做出反应时往往会显示出更成功的战略。家庭影响力对于老牌公司而言可能会更好或更坏。具体而言，我们发现，在具有家庭破坏者的公司中，家庭势力强大且推动采用新技术的公司，可以克服障碍，并且公司在对颠覆性行业变革做出反应时往往会显示出更成功的战略。家庭影响力对于老牌公司而言可能会更好或更坏。具体而言，我们发现，在具有家庭破坏者的公司中，家庭势力强大且推动采用新技术的公司，可以克服障碍，并且公司在对颠覆性行业变革做出反应时往往会显示出更成功的战略。