Family firms’ digital transformation: pathways and tensions
基于10个案例25次访谈，识别出家族企业数字化转型中的三个张力场，提出五个命题解释家族性如何影响合作策略、风险态度和实施速度，为企业家、教育者和政策制定者提供平衡转型路径的指导。
Abstract How do family firms navigate digital transformation? Drawing on 25 interviews across ten cases (2018–2024), we identify three tension fields that shape the scale and pace of digitalization: internal development vs. external sourcing, reliance on trusted partners vs. opening new ties, and the diffusion of family control. We theorize five propositions showing how familiness conditions collaboration strategies, risk posture, and implementation speed. Long-term orientation and strong ties enable committed, tailored investments, yet can narrow openness to novel external knowledge; selective boundary opening mitigates this trade-off. Our model integrates socioemotional wealth with digital innovation, clarifying when familial control supports or suppresses experimentation and how learning unfolds over time. We outline implications for entrepreneurs, educators, and policy. The paper contributes to research on family-business digitalization and offers actionable guidance for designing balanced transformation pathways.