PhD position in “Sustainable Growth and Innovation in Family Firms” at the Department of Organization, Strategy, & Entrepreneurship, Maastricht University

The Department of Organisation, Strategy and Entrepreneurship at Maastricht University School of Business and Economics (SBE) offers a 4-year PhD position for students with a (Research) Master degree or equivalent. Candidates are expected to start September 1st, 2022.

We offer a dynamic and challenging job in an internationally oriented organisation where students receive an advanced education and scholars conduct exciting research. The PhD candidates will have the unique opportunity to carry out research within the Research Themes and Centres of Expertise within the research programme at the Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE) and will contribute to the development and outreach of its research. The candidate will be part of an international network of top universities and renowned scholars within the field.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

What are the implications for business and business owners of the growing awareness that relentless economic growth comes at a cost; a cost that brings dramatic climate change, biodiversity loss, and growing inequality. What alternative growth models are being considered by companies to redress the impact of economic growth on the environment and well-being of people? The proposed PhD project is interested in developing insights into these bigger questions by investigating sustainable growth and sustainable innovations in the context of family firms. Family firms represent a dominant organizational form across the globe characterized by unique family and business intersections and specific growth-related questions, such as how family decision making steers their growth and the types of growth.

The research project will focus on the "how" and "why" of the development and implementation of environmental/social sustainability initiatives of families in business. The project is interested in exploring both the individual, the family and the firm level with respect to perceptions of ‘growth’ and therefore will take a qualitative and/or mixed-methods research approach.

Since family firms are a heterogenous group and have unique internal dynamics, this research project will investigate how different characteristics might play a role in the beliefs on and pursuit of sustainable growth. Specific characteristics of interest in this project are women’s leadership and transgenerational succession. It has been argued that women tend to attach greater importance to firm continuity, ensuring job security for employees, and sustainability; this project will therefore consider how women leaders of families in business shape sustainable growth. Transgenerational succession is another important dimension to study as it is well-known that new generations often bring new ideas and perspectives; so how do younger generation family members who have grown up in a context where sustainability issues are receiving a more prominent position, forge ideas towards sustainable innovation.

The project will allow theoretical contributions to the debates on the so-called long-term orientation of family firms and socioeconomic wealth models. Quantitative studies have illustrated that the direct relationship between long-term orientation and sustainability is often insignificant, as other family characteristics or processes will affect sustainability strategies. Our qualitative and mixed-method approach will allow us to explore these factors and processes more in-depth. Moreover, the PhD student will contribute to a better understanding of growth-oriented women entrepreneurship and illustrate how the specific family firm context supports and/or hinders women’s strategic growth and innovation behaviour in sustainability initiatives.