HPWP's Role on Product Innovation in Family Firms : A Study of Swedish Family Firms

Abstract: Innovation is of central concern for all businesses. The concern for innovation is particularly sensitive for family firms as they often face the challenge of being less entrepreneurial and innovative than nonfamily firms du e to their, sometimes contradictory goals, between economic efficiency and family interest. Researchers has begun to acknowledge t professional human resource (HR) he importance of practices regarding innovation. However, academia becomes short in understanding how these pr actices affects a firm's product innovation, especially in a family business context. Therefore, this thesis aims to enlarge how high performance work practices (HPWP), consisting of five practices, influences product innovation in family firms. To achieve this, our study included a multiplecomparative case study of three Swedish family firms, plus two expert interviews to reach further support to our findings. Moreover, for these cases, we conducted semi structured interviews, observation and secondary da ta using an abductive approach. Based on previous theoretical standpoints, we derived our own model which served as an analytic tool to our empirical data. From our analysis, we conducted a new, slightly modified, model to support and illustrate our empiri cal findings. To make a thorough and accurate analysis, we separated each practice of HPWP and found every practice´s unique influence on product innovation in family firms. Additionally, we contribute to the HPWP literature by revealing an interplay betwe en these five practices where they appear to strengthen and support each other. From a practitioner's point of view, our study is helpful to achieve a higher personorganizational fit for family firms and it can provide practical insights of how HPWP affec ts the product innovation process.