Does family social capital matter with new product　development? Evidence of micro- and small-sized family business

家族企業及其創新活動在近年愈發受到關注。在眾多促進創新行為的關鍵因子中，企業關係以及知識搜尋被視為影響新產品開發的重要因素，雖然家族企業創新行為的相關文獻已有一定程度的累積，但對於誘發創新行為的真正原因仍是眾說紛紜。為了回應對於小型以及微型家族企業進行創新相關研究之需求，本文從企業關係以及忠僕理論的視角出發，目的在於檢視家族社會資本如何透過公司全面的探索性開發機制來形塑創新行為。本研究利用Heckman兩階段模型，針對186間小型家族企業進行分析，結果顯示，新產品開發的結果不能僅歸因於企業知識搜尋之範疇，更重要的是家族社會資本對於搜尋行為的影響力，進而成為促進新產品開發的驅動力量。此外，本研究尚會釐清家族企業管理者於此扮演之角色，透過實證結果進一步揭露管理者之忠僕行為如何強化知識搜尋及創新品開發之間的連結。The economic importance of family businesses and their innovation patterns have become a topic of increasing interest in recent decades. Among all the key factors contributing to innovation, firm interconnectedness and knowledge search are particularly significant to new product development (NPD). Although the literature on the innovative behavior of family firms continues to accumulate, the causes of firm innovativeness remain inconclusive. To heed the recent calls for more inquiries into the innovation of micro and small sized family businesses, this thesis, drawing on relational and stewardship perspectives, aims to examine how family social capital shapes firm innovativeness through the company-wide explorative orientation. Using Heckman’s two-stage Model on a sample of 186 Taiwanese micro & small sized family firms, this study shows primarily that the outcome of NPD is explainable by something beyond the companywide search orientation per se; that is, family social capital drives explorative activities which, in turn, enhance the NPD. This study further attests that the effect of explorative orientation on NPD is strengthened in conjunction with managerial stewardship