The focus of our research is the internationalisation of the small-medium size family firms in Hungary, with particular attention to the effect of generational change on internationalisation. Our examination is based on interviews with the current management of six family firms from different industries. We had two research propositions: First, we analysed if and how successors in the family businesses were more open to the internationalisation of the company. Our results provide insights reflecting that the predecessors are usually quite open, and successors are not always as open when they assume control over the company, unlike the existing internationalisation patterns of family firms would suggest. Potential explanations reveal related characteristics of the Central-Eastern European (CEE) region. Secondly, in terms of how and why the leadership style and approach of the predecessors affect the internationalisation of family firms, our findings from different cases vary. The historical and cultural background of the family firms’ founders and early-generation successors exert notable influence on the internationalisation process, while the role of predecessors’ personal characteristics may not be as strong a driver of internationalisation as previously suggested. The management implications of our findings suggest that the Hungarian family firms show regional patterns in terms of their internationalisation, and generic approaches to generational change and succession may not explain the process as much as extant literature on international family business suggests.

中文翻译：

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在全球市场拥有新领导者的家族企业–潜在的成功故事吗？

我们研究的重点是匈牙利中小型家族企业的国际化，尤其要注意世代变革对国际化的影响。我们的考试基于对来自不同行业的六家家族企业现任管理层的采访。我们有两个研究命题：首先，我们分析了家族企业的后继者是否以及如何对公司的国际化更加开放。我们的结果提供的见解反映出，前辈通常是相当开放的，而继任者在接管公司时并不总是那么开放，这不像家族企业现有的国际化模式所暗示的那样。可能的解释揭示了中东欧（CEE）地区的相关特征。其次，关于前辈的领导风格和方式如何以及为什么影响家族企业的国际化，我们从不同案例中得出的结论各不相同。家族企业的创始人和早期继任者的历史文化背景对国际化进程产生了显着影响，而前辈个人特征的作用可能没有像以前建议的那样强烈地推动国际化。我们的发现对管理层的影响表明，匈牙利家族企业在国际化方面表现出区域性格局，世代变革和继承的通用方法可能无法像现有有关国际家族企业的文献所解释的那样解释这一过程。