Purpose

In a context of technological disruption, companies face a digital imperative to adopt successfully emerging new technologies. While family firms have a huge potential for growth and innovation, they may – due to idiosyncratic but often limited resources, have to address the complex challenges induced by digital technologies introduction. The purpose of this paper is to explore how human and cultural resources influence the formulation and implementation of five French family firms' digital strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a phenomenological epistemology, semi-structured interviews among different generational cohorts of family business owners.

Findings

The thematic analysis highlights five main cultural and psychological determinants holding the potential for positive and synergetic outcomes while implementing a digital strategy: the change management nurtured by long-term sustainability, the emotional attachment to the firm, the entrepreneurial legacy influence, the personalised involvement of individual family members and the family owners' central focus on employees.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the first research projects exploring the digital transformation process of family businesses from the perspective of the firm's human capital. The participants of the study reveal idiosyncratic attitudes such as long-term orientation, entrepreneurial bridging and non-economic goals leading to competitive advantages and transgenerational wealth creation.

中文翻译：

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影响多代家族企业数字化转型战略的人为因素：对五家法国成长型家族企业的多案例研究

目的

在技​​术颠覆的背景下，公司面临着成功采用新兴技术的数字化势在必行。虽然家族企业具有巨大的增长和创新潜力，但由于资源特殊但往往有限，它们可能不得不应对数字技术引入带来的复杂挑战。本文旨在探讨人力和文化资源如何影响五家法国家族企业数字化战略的制定和实施。

设计/方法/途径

基于现象学认识论，对不同世代的家族企业所有者进行半结构化访谈。

发现

主题分析突出了五个主要的文化和心理决定因素，这些因素在实施数字战略时可能会产生积极和协同的结果：长期可持续性培养的变革管理、对公司的情感依恋、企业家遗留影响、个性化参与个人家庭成员和家庭所有者的核心关注点是员工。

原创性/价值

本文是最早从企业人力资本的角度探索家族企业数字化转型过程的研究项目之一。该研究的参与者表现出特殊的态度，例如长期定位、创业桥接和非经济目标，从而导致竞争优势和跨代财富创造。