J u d ith v a n The emerging role of advisory boards in strategizing H e in family firms lve r t-B e A sensemaking perspective u g e ls This thesis addresses the emerging role of advisory boards in strategizing in privately held family firms, focusing on the period in which family firms start considering to work with an advisory board through the board’s first years of existence. A micro-level strategy perspective is combined with insights from sensemaking theory to understand how the practitioners Th Doctoral Thesis e involved make sense of this new strategy arena. Empirically, the study is based on four e m real-time, longitudinal case studies that primarily use observations along with interviews erg and secondary documents. The within- and cross case interpretations are integrated into a ing The emerging role of advisory boards in conceptual model that explains how the roles of advisory boards in strategizing emerge over role o strategizing in family firms time. f a d v is This study finds that advisory boards emerge into unique configurations through sense- ory A sensemaking perspective making activities. The various ways of sensemaking (individual, mediated and collective bo a sensemaking) regarding content and the role and tasks of the advisory board explain the rd s differences between the cases. Two underlying causal mechanisms are identified that drive in s the sensemaking processes: the learning orientation of the practitioners involved and the tra (a)symmetry between the advisory board members on the one hand and the family firm tegiz Judith van Helvert-Beugels decision makers on the other hand. ing in fa m This dissertation contributes to our current understanding of advisory boards and their role ily in strategizing in family firms. Second, it contributes to the strategy as practice literature by firm addressing a new arena involved in strategizing that contextualizes over time and attending s to the processual dimensions, the content dimensions, the outcomes of the process and the outcomes generated by strategizing. JUDITH VAN HELVERT-BEUGELS is a researcher at the Dutch Center of Expertise in Family Business at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. She holds a Master of Science degree in International Business Studies (Maastricht University). Her research efforts focus on advising in family firms, strategic entrepreneurship J IB and organizational development, following an engaged scholarship S D approach. Her teaching activities are various and concern themes such is s as governance in SME family firms, finance and strategic management. er ta tio n S Jönköping University er Jönköping International Business School ie ISSN 1403-0470 s N JIBS Dissertation Series No. 120 • 2018 ISBN 978-91-86345-82-2 o . 1 2 0 J u d ith v a n The emerging role of advisory boards in strategizing H e in family firms lve r t-B e A sensemaking perspective u g e ls This thesis addresses the emerging role of advisory boards in strategizing in privately held family firms, focusing on the period in which family firms start considering to work with an advisory board through the board’s first years of existence. A micro-level strategy perspective is combined with insights from sensemaking theory to understand how the practitioners Th Doctoral Thesis e involved make sense of this new strategy arena. Empirically, the study is based on four e m real-time, longitudinal case studies that primarily use observations along with interviews erg and secondary documents. The within- and cross case interpretations are integrated into a ing The emerging role of advisory boards in conceptual model that explains how the roles of advisory boards in strategizing emerge over role o strategizing in family firms time. f a d v is This study finds that advisory boards emerge into unique configurations through sense- ory A sensemaking perspective making activities. The various ways of sensemaking (individual, mediated and collective bo a sensemaking) regarding content and the role and tasks of the advisory board explain the rd s differences between the cases. Two underlying causal mechanisms are identified that drive in s the sensemaking processes: the learning orientation of the practitioners involved and the tra (a)symmetry between the advisory board members on the one hand and the family firm tegiz Judith van Helvert-Beugels decision makers on the other hand. ing in fa m This dissertation contributes to our current understanding of advisory boards and their role ily in strategizing in family firms. Second, it contributes to the strategy as practice literature by firm addressing a new arena involved in strategizing that contextualizes over time and attending s to the processual dimensions, the content dimensions, the outcomes of the process and the outcomes generated by strategizing. JUDITH VAN HELVERT-BEUGELS is a researcher at the Dutch Center of Expertise in Family Business at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. She holds a Master of Science degree in International Business Studies (Maastricht University). Her research efforts focus on advising in family firms, strategic entrepreneurship J IB and organizational development, following an engaged scholarship S D approach. Her teaching activities are various and concern themes such is s as governance in SME family firms, finance and strategic management. er ta tio n S Jönköping University er Jönköping International Business School ie ISSN 1403-0470 s N JIBS Dissertation Series No. 120 • 2018 ISBN 978-91-86345-82-2 o . 1 2 0 Doctoral thesis The emerging role of advisory boards in strategizing in family firms A sensemaking perspective Judith van Helvert-Beugels Jönköping University Jönköping International Business School JIBS Dissertation Series No. 120 Doctoral Thesis in Business Administration The emerging role of advisory boards in strategizing in family firms: A sensemaking perspective JIBS Dissertation Series No. 120 © 2018 Judith van Helvert-Beugels and Jönköping International Business School Publisher: Jönköping International Business School P.O. Box 1026 SE-551 11 Jönköping Tel.: +46 36 10 10 00 www.ju.se Printed by BrandFactory AB 2018 ISSN 1403-0470 ISBN 978-91-86345-82-2 Voor Joost On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943) iii Acknowledgments This journey of writing my dissertation has been so very rewarding and challenging that I almost regret that it is over. Fortunately, this is just the start of the life of a researcher! I have met so many nice persons in Zwolle, Jönköping and at conferences across the world, and there is still so much to be learned, so I hope that these last five years have established a basis for further collaboration and interesting research projects. I am incredibly grateful for the contributions and support of so many people. I am very happy to take this opportunity to thank you all and I would like to say a few extra words to those who have been so closely involved over the last few years. I start by thanking my own advisory board: my supervisors Mattias Nordqvist and Olof Brunninge and my supervisor at my home university, Ilse Matser. I feel so fortunate to have been able to work with the three of you and it is because of your guidance, feedback and stimulation that I have been able to finish this dissertation. Mattias and Olof, you have been great mentors in my development as an academic scholar. Even though it often took some time before I fully understood your feedback because you are always ten steps ahead of me in your thinking, it is because of your expectations, your stimulating feedback and profound questioning that I have been able to persevere, learn so much and improve the quality of my work. Thank you both for your intellectual guidance and encouragement! Of course, I want to thank you Ilse. We have worked together since the day I finished my master’s studies and started to work at Utrecht University, and you know that it has always been my dream to be a researcher. It is thanks to you that I ended up doing my PhD at JIBS and I am very grateful for that. You are a great example and source of inspiration in terms of bonding and bridging theory and practice. I am very happy that you have become the third supervisor in the process and that we can celebrate this result together. You are the best colleague one could wish for: thank you! A special word of thanks goes to Marcella Ramirez Pasillas and Maria José Parada Balderrama, who helped me to make sense of my research proposal at an early stage of the research process. I am also indebted to Jonas Gabrielsson, who agreed to be the discussant at my final seminar. Your constructive comments and suggestions and profound analysis of my work have helped me improve my work and better communicate my ideas and research findings. I would have never been able to write this dissertation without the help of all the practitioners involved in the study. Even though I cannot mention you by name, I am very grateful for the openness and kindness of the owner-managers, their families, other directors or members of the management teams involved, and the advisory board members. All of you have been willing to share your ideas and reflections and have provided me access to my arena of interest: the advisory board meeting. It is my hope that this dissertation will be valuable to you and your colleagues in understanding the process of emergence and the role of advisory boards in strategizing. v I would also like to thank my current and former colleagues at the Dutch Center of Expertise for family businesses at Windesheim. Thank you all for your interest and support: Erik Veldhuizen, Mira Bloemen, Frank Bos, Jelle Bouma, Klaas van der Kolk, Karin Rozendal, Jan Willem van der Vloot van Vliet, Annemarie Beumers, Jolanda Knobel, Margré Heetebrij, Derk Jan Kiewiet, Clemens Willig, Franscina Kant, Chantal Remery, Jasper Brinkerink, and Arjen Dekker. A special thanks to Albertha Wielsma and Anita van Gils. Albertha, we have started our adventure at JIBS together and I can still remember every detail of our application “event,” and I am sure that you do too! I am very happy that we have made this journey together. I have enjoyed our discussions during the dark nights up north. Anita, you joined the Windesheim team during the last phase of my PhD and I am happy you chose to work with us in Zwolle. I am looking forward to continuing to learn from you in future research projects. I would also like to thank Coen Rigtering. At the first stage of the data analysis, when everything was still extremely messy, you helped me to bring in some structure, after which I could continue. I consider this to have been a crucial stage of the process, and your input was extremely worthwhile. I would also like to mention Riejet Nijdam and Jan van Iersel because it was thanks to their entrepreneurial attitude and openness to the potential of this development path for the expertise center at Windesheim that our adventure at JIBS was supported by Windesheim. I have very much enjoyed my time at JIBS. During travels back home, I always felt so lucky and fortunate to be part of two worlds. Thank you very much to the course leaders and all the others who made my stays at JIBS a pleasure: Leif, Francesco, Ethel, Lucia, Karin, Leona, Anders, Per, Kajsa, Markus, Duncan, Massimo, Naveed, Quang, Imran, Magda, and Hannah. In addition, thanks to all my fellow PhD students: Sarah, Thomas, Matthias, Songming, Joaquin, Anne, Gershon, Sam, Sumaya, Enrique, Martha, Pierre, Samuel, Samuel, Jean Bosco and many others. I would also like to thank Susanne, Tanja, Danielle, Barbara, and Ingrid for their support. A special word of thanks to my Dutch anchor in Sweden: Andrea. Thanks for all the bits and pieces of advice and crashing on your sofa from time to time. I also really enjoyed the fun time spent with the members of the PBA club: Sylvie, Sari and Mira. I think we did a great job dealing with our patheticness! Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends. I cannot and do not expect you to read the whole text. However, if you do, you will be rewarded with minor references to all of you. Mom and Dad, I am very grateful for all the opportunities you have provided and that you have given me confidence to pursue this journey. You have taught me to persevere when needed, which was highly relevant to completing this dissertation. Thank you for being always there when needed, one of the great treasures in life. Last but definitely not least, I want to thank Joost, my love, my better half, and my companion in life. Thank you for always showing interest in my research and your understanding and patience when I sometimes panicked. I am sure you remember the moment when I thought I had lost some interviews…Our sweetest little friend Marie has been a great help in leaving the desk more often and vi enjoying time together by going outside for some nice walks at the beach or in the woods. Along this great journey, you have always made me remember that there is so much more to life than studying family firms, and I love you for that. I promise to NEVER miss any of your birthdays again. Judith van Helvert-Beugels, December 2017 vii