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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Is small and medium-sized beautiful? The structure and evolution of family SMEs research

Giuseppe ValenzaAndrea CalabròAndrea CaputoAndrea Caputo

subject

Structure (mathematical logic)Sociology of scientific knowledgeKnowledge managementFamily businessbusiness.industryStrategy and ManagementField (Bourdieu)05 social sciencesEconomics Econometrics and Finance (miscellaneous)Organizational cultureBibliographic couplingN100 Business studiesBody of knowledgeFamily business SMEs Small family business Bibliometric VOSViewer Literature reviewInternationalization0502 economics and business050211 marketingBusiness050203 business & management

description

PurposeThe field of scientific research on small and medium-sized family businesses has been growing exponentially and the aim of this paper is to systematize the body of knowledge to develop an agenda for the future.Design/methodology/approachAdopting comparative bibliometric analyses on 155 articles (from 1989 until 2018) the authors provide a systematic assessment of the scientific research about small family firms, unveiling the structure and evolution of the field. Bibliographic coupling, co-citation analysis and co-occurrence analysis are adopted to identify the most influential studies and themes.FindingsFour clusters of research are reviewed: succession in family SMEs, performances of family SMEs, internationalization of family SMEs and organizational culture of family SMEs.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the field of family SMEs by providing a systematic analysis of the scientific knowledge. Reviewing those clusters allows to providing avenues and reflections for future research and further practice.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2021-12-31Journal of Family Business Management
https://doi.org/10.1108/jfbm-03-2021-0024