Between a strategic rock and a hard place: Planning and flexibility in family and non-family firms

In this research, we compare firms' capacity to react to emerging opportunities and threats (strategic flexibility) by assessing strategic initiatives (i.e., strategic planning) in a study of family and non-family firms. We link these behaviours to measures of firm performance. In a study of 360 firms using moderated regression analysis, we discovered that differences do exist between family and non-family firms, with the strategic planning to firm performance relationship being moderated by strategic-flexibility. In non-family firms, we found direct relationships between strategic planning and firm performance, as well as strategic flexibility to firm performance, but we did not find an interaction effect between strategic planning and strategic flexibility to firm performance, as we did in family firms. This project contributes to a greater understanding of the individual and combined roles played by strategic planning and strategic flexibility in the performance of family and non-family firms.