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Lehrende: Dr. Jana Hauck; Dr. Ursula Koners
Veranstaltungsart:
Seminar
Orga-Einheit: Studentische Forschung
Anzeige im Stundenplan:
VS Curr Issues
Semesterwochenstunden:
3
Credits:
5,0
Hinweis: In Ihrer Prüfungsordnung können abweichende Credits festgelegt sein.
Standort:
Campus der Zeppelin Universität
Unterrichtssprache:
Englisch
Min. | Max. Teilnehmerzahl:
5 | 30
Inhalte:
The main goal of this research seminar is to understand the fundamentals of family firms and their particularities – as well as theoretical and methodological approaches applied in the field. The course starts with a detailed discussion of what a family firm actually is, what might render it different from non-family firms, and factors potentially causing heterogeneity among family firms. We follow in particular a current discussion in the field about ‘homegrown’ theoretical concepts such as familiness or socioemotional wealth. Following the debate about the essence of family firms, we dive into the current literature on innovation behavior of family firms. Given the pivotal role of innovation activities for long-term firm survival (Schumpeter, 1934) as well as the utmost importance of family firms around the world (La Porta, Lopez-de-Silanes, & Shleifer, 1999; Villalonga & Amit, 2009), it is actually surprising that the existing knowledge about innovation in family firms is still incomplete and inconsistent. On the one hand, family firms are often described as resistant to change, conservative, and traditional (Dunn, 1996; Hall, Melin, & Nordqvist, 2004). On the other hand, there is a “mysterious something” about family firms which may support their innovation activities (Gudmundson, Tower, & Hartman, 2003, p. 15) and makes them a driver of, e.g., technological innovation (Zahra, 2005). Furthermore, innovation behavior of family firms needs to be reflected in a broader context and discussions should not be restricted to the well-known classification of product, process or business model innovation. In fact, the field of innovation in family firms is a highly interesting and promising avenue for understanding family firms better and for identifying relevant and interesting research gaps. Apart from a clear focus on theory and innovation behavior we will also put emphasis on the methodology developments applied in prior family firm research and the implications of these developments for the field.
Lernziele:
The participants will gain a broad overview and deep understanding of current literature and applied methods in the research area. Moreover, participants' skills in reading and discussing research papers with a critical mindset will be trained. Based on the current state of research in the field of family firms, research gaps will be identified and addressed by theoretical discourses as well as research projects. As a consequence the course might also serve as an in-depth preparation for developing BA thesis proposals.
Weitere Informationen zu den Prüfungsleistungen:
Group paper (research project) (70%), individual presentation and participation in class (30%).
Papers have to be prepared in advance and are presented by one of the participants and a dedicated “discussant”. All other participants are also expected to contribute. In order to ensure a fruitful discussion we expect each participant to read the papers before class.
Literatur:
Participants will be provided with a reading list.
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