Alfredo De Massis is Professor of Entrepreneurship & Family Business and Director of the Centre for Family Business Management at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy. He also co-directs family business research projects at Lancaster University Management School, UK. His research focuses on innovation and strategic management of family enterprises. In September 2015, Family Capital ranked him among the world’s top 25 star professors for family business. He serves as Associate Editor of Family Business Review and on the Editorial Boards of Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal and Journal of Family Business Strategy. His research has been published widely in leading academic and professional journals including AMJ, JBV, ETP, JPIM, AMP, FBR, GSJ, JBE, CMR.
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Publications
2022
Bauweraerts, J., Rondi, E., Rovelli, P., De Massis, A., & Sciascia, S. (2022). Are Family Female Directors Catalysts of Innovation in Family SMEs? Accepted for publication in Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal.
Magrelli, V., Rondi, E., De Massis, A., & Kotlar, J. (2022). Generational Brokerage: An Intersubjective Perspective on Managing Temporal Orientations in Family Firm Succession. Strategic Organization, 20(1), 164-199.
Magrelli, V., Rovelli, P., Benedetti, C., Überbacher, R., & De Massis, A. (2022). Generations in Family Business: A Multi-field Review and Future Research Agenda. Family Business Review, 35(1), 15-44.
Rovelli, P., Benedetti, C., Fronzetti Colladon, A., & De Massis, A. (2022). As Long As You Talk About Me: The Importance of Family Firm Brands and The Contingent Role of Family-Firm Identity. Journal of Business Research, 139, 692-700.
Rovelli, P., De Massis, A., & Gomez-Mejia, L. R. (2022). Are Narcissistic CEOs Good or Bad for Family Firm Innovation? Human Relations.
2021
De Massis, A., Eddleston, K. A., & Rovelli, P. (2021). Entrepreneurial by Design: How organizational design affects family and nonfamily firms’ opportunity exploitation. Journal of Management Studies, 58(1), 27-62.
Rovelli, P., Ferasso, M., De Massis, A., & Kraus, S., (2021). Thirty Years of Research in Family Business Journals: Status Quo and Future Directions. Forthcoming in Journal of Family Business Strategy, 100422.
Soluk, J., Miroshnychenko, I., Kammerlander, N., & De Massis, A. (2021). Family influence and digital business model innovation: The enabling role of dynamic capabilities. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 45(4), 867-905.
2020
Argyres, N., De Massis, A., Foss, N.J., Frattini, F., Jones, G., & Silverman, B.S. (2020). History-informed strategy research: The promise of history and historical research methods in advancing strategy scholarship. Strategic Management Journal, 41(3), 343-368.
Debellis, F., De Massis, A., Messeni Petruzzelli, A., Frattini, F., & Del Giudice, M. (2020). Strategic agility and international joint ventures: The willingness-ability paradox of family firms. Journal of International Management, forthcoming.
De Massis, A., & Kammerlander, N. (2020). Handbook of qualitative research methods for family business. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham Glos, UK. ISBN: 978-1-78811-644-2.
Erdogan, I., Rondi, E., & De Massis, A. (2020). Managing the tradition and innovation paradox in family firms: A family imprinting perspective. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 44(1), 20-54.
Jaskiewicz, P., Neubaum, D.O., De Massis, A., & Holt, D.T. (2020). The adulthood of family business research through inbound and outbound theorizing. Family Business Review, 33(1), 10-17.
Kotlar, J., De Massis, A., Frattini, F., & Kammerlander, N. (2020). Motivation gaps and implementation traps: The paradoxical and time-varying effects of family ownership on firm absorptive capacity. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 37(1), 2-25.
Mazzelli A., De Massis, A., Petruzzelli, A.M., Del Giudice, M., & Khan, Z. (2020). Behind ambidextrous search: The microfoundations of search in family and non-family firms. Long Range Planning, forthcoming.
Miroshnychenko, I., Barontini, R., & De Massis A. (2020). Investment opportunities and R&D investments in family and nonfamily firms. R&D Management, forthcoming.
Miroshnychenko, I., De Massis, A., Miller, D., & Barontini, R. (2020). Family business growth around the world. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, forthcoming.
Miroshnychenko, I., Strobl, A., Matzler, K., & De Massis, A. (2020). Absorptive capacity, strategic flexibility, and business model innovation: Empirical evidence from Italian SMEs. Journal of Business Research, forthcoming.
Migliori, S., De Massis, A., Maturo, F., & Paolone, F. (2020). How does family management affect innovation investment propensity? The key role of innovation impulses. Journal of Business Research, forthcoming.
Rondi, E., Debellis, F., De Massis, A., & Garzoni, A. (2020). Bonding and bridging social capital in family firm internationalization. Sinergie Italian Journal of Management, 38, 105-123.
Rondi, E., Sciascia, S., & De Massis, A. (2020). Innovation in small family firms. Piccola Impresa/Small Business, 1, 10-19.
2019
Calabrò, A., Vecchiarini, M., Gast, J., Campopiano, G., De Massis, A., & Kraus, S. (2019). Innovation in family firms: A systematic literature review and guidance for future research. International Journal of Management Reviews, 21(3), 317-355.
Campopiano, G., Rinaldi, F.R., Sciascia, S., & De Massis, A. (2019). Family and non-family women on the board of directors: Effects on corporate citizenship behavior in family-controlled fashion firm. Journal of Cleaner Production, 214(20), 41-51.
De Massis, A., Wang, H., & Chua J.H. (2019). Counterpoint: How heterogeneity among family firms influences organizational change. Journal of Change Management, 19(1), 37-44.
Dell’Era, C., Magistretti, S., De Massis, A., & Frattini, F. (2019). Exploring the relationship between types of family involvement and collaborative innovation in design-intensive firms: Insights from two leading players in the furniture industry. Industry and Innovation, 26(10).
Feninger, M., Kammerlander, N. & De Massis, A. (2019). Family business innovation: A circular process model. In Colli, A., D’Allura, G.M., & Goel, S. (Eds.), Family firms and institutional contexts: Business models, innovation and competitive advantage, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham Glos, UK.
Garcia, P.R.J., Sharma, P., De Massis, A., Wright, M., & Scholes, L. (2019). Perceived parental behaviors and next generation engagement in family firms: A social cognitive perspective. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, 43(2), 224-243.
Madanoglu M., Memili E., & De Massis A. (2019). Home-based family firms, spousal ownership, and business exit: A transaction cost perspective. Small Business Economics, forthcoming.
Molly, V., Uhlaner, L., De Massis, A., & Laveren, E. (2019). Family-Centered goals, family board representation, and debt financing. Small Business Economics, 53(1), 269-286.
Muñoz-Bullon F., Sanchez-Bueno, M.J., & De Massis, A. (2019). The effects on innovation performance in family and non-family firms. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, in press.
2018
Arzubiaga, U., Kotlar, J., De Massis, A., Maseda, A., & Iturralde, T. (2018). Entrepreneurial orientation and innovation in family SMEs: Unveiling the (actual) impact of the Board of Directors. Journal of Business Venturing, 33(4), 455-469.
Calabrò A., Vecchiarini M., Gast J., Campopiano G., De Massis A., & Kraus S. (2018). Innovation in family firms: A systematic literature review and guidance for future research. International Journal of Management Reviews. In press.
Campopiano, G., De Massis A., & Kotlar, J. (2018). Environmental jolts, family-centered non-economic goals and innovation: Toward a framework of family firm resilience. In Memili, E., & Dibrell, C. (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of heterogeneity among family firms, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK.
Carr, J., De Massis, A., & Pearson, A. (2018). Reflections on the F-PEC scale of family influence: Clarifying its distinctive contribution. Family Business Review, 31(2), 198-199.
Chua, J.H., Chrisman, J.J., De Massis, A., & Wang, H. (2018). Reflections on family firm goals and the assessment of performance. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 9(2), 107-113.
De Massis, A., Audretsch, D., Uhlaner, L., & Kammerlander, N. (2018). Innovation with limited resources: Management lessons from the German Mittelstand. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 35(1), 125-146.
De Massis, A., Ding, S., Kotlar, J., & Wu, Z. (2018). Family involvement and R&D expenses in the context of weak property rights protection: an examination of non-state-owned listed companies in China. European Journal of Finance, 24(16), 1506-1527.
De Massis, A., & Foss, N. J. (2018). Advancing family business research: The promise of microfoundations. Family Business Review, 31(4), 386-396.
De Massis A., Frattini F., Majocchi A., & Piscitello L. (2018). Family firms in the global economy: Toward a deeper understanding of internationalization determinants, processes and outcomes. Global Strategy Journal, 8(1), 3-21.
De Massis, A., Kotlar, J., Mazzola, P., Minola, T., & Sciascia, S. (2018). Conflicting selves: Family owners’ multiple goals and self-control agency problems in private firms. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, 42(4), 362-389.
De Massis, A., Kotlar, J., Wright, M., & Kellermanns, F. (2018). Sector-based entrepreneurial capabilities and the promise of sector studies in entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, 42(1), 3-23.
De Massis A., & Rovelli P. (2018). Innovation in Family Firms and SMEs: Distinctive Features and Research Challenges. In U. Hytti, R. Blackburne, and E. Laveren (Eds.), Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Education. Frontiers in European Entrepreneurship Research. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham (UK).
Fang, H., Kotlar, J., Memili, E., Chrisman, J.J., & De Massis, A. (2018). The pursuit of international opportunities in family firms: Generational differences and the role of knowledge-based resources. Global Strategy Journal, 8(1), 136-157.
Filser, M., De Massis, A., Gast, J., Kraus, S., & Niemand, T. (2018). Tracing the roots of innovativeness in family SMEs: The effect of family functionality and socioemotional wealth. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 35(4), 609-628.
Kotlar, J., De Massis, A., Wright, M., & Frattini, F. (2018). Organizational goals: Antecedents, formation processes, and implications for firm behavior and performance. International Journal of Management Reviews, 20(S1), S3-S18.
Kotlar, J., Signori, A., De Massis, A., & Vismara, S. (2018). Financial wealth, socioemotional wealth, and IPO underpricing in family firms: A two-stage gamble model. Academy of Management Journal, 61(3), 1073-1099.
Mazzelli, A., Kotlar, J., & De Massis, A. (2018). Blending in while standing out: Selective conformity and new product introduction in family firms. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, 42(2), 206-230.
Mazzelli, A., Nason, R. S., De Massis, A., & Kotlar, J. (2018). Causality rules: Performance feedback on hierarchically related goals and capital investment variability. Journal of Management Studies, in press.
Worek, M., De Massis, A., Wright, M., & Veider, V. (2018). Acquisitions, disclosed goals and firm characteristics: A content analysis of family and nonfamily firms. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 9(4), 250-267.
2017
Campopiano, G., De Massis, A., Rinaldi, F.R., & Sciascia, S. (2017). Women’s involvement in family firms: Progress and challenges for future research. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 8(4), 200-212.
Casprini E., De Massis A., Di Minin A., Frattini F., & Piccaluga A. (2017). How family firms execute open innovation strategies: The Loccioni case. Journal of Knowledge Management, 21(6), 1459-1485.
Feranita, F., Kotlar, J., & De Massis, A. (2017). Collaborative innovation in family firms: Past research, current debates and agenda for future research. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 8(3), 137-156.
Marler, L., Botero I., & De Massis, A. (2017). Succession-related role transitions in family firms: The impact of proactive personality. Journal of Managerial Issues, 29(1), 57-81.
Rondi, E., De Massis, A., & Kotlar, J. (2017). Unlocking innovation potential: A typology of family business innovation postures and the critical role of the family system. Journal of Family Business Strategy, in press.
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