DEVELOPING STRATEGY EXECUTION IN FAMILY FIRMS: A GOVERNANCE PERSPECTIVE

This study addresses strategy execution in family firms and focuses on how corporate governance can influence the development of organizational capability for effective strategy implementation. In recent years, both scholars and practitioners have paid increasing attention to strategy execution. Growing competitive pressure, the entry of new competitors into the competitive landscape, and significant so-cial and technological changes have emphasized the key role of strategy execution for the survival and development of firms. However, researchers for a long time had substantially neglected the topic and there are still significant gaps in the theoretical understanding of how the strategy is implemented in family businesses and how corporate governance affects its effectiveness. With the aim of bridging this gap, this research addresses how and why corporate governance practices impacts the effective execution of strategy in family businesses. Leveraging on strategic management and governance perspectives on family firms, this research was carried out by a case study approach and investigates a family firm involved in a process of entrepre-neurial growth and professionalization. Findings show how corporate governance acts as a mecha-nism that conditions the development of organizational capability to execute the strategy.