Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons^™

Social-Cognitive Antecedents Of Ambidextrous Orientation In Family-Owned Startups: The Role Of Family Ties, Achievement Motivation, And Internal Locus Of Control, Patricio R. Mori

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Regulatory Focus Theory predicts that the motivation to self-regulate goal-directed thought and behavior depends on two distinct regulation strategies: a promotion focus based on attaining gains and a prevention focus based on avoiding losses.

This study took a social-cognitive approach predicting that regulatory focus has an impact on how family startups (several family related founders) explore “new ideas”, exploit “old certainties” and achieve the balance of both (ambidexterity), compared to lone founder startups (only one founder present).

It was proposed that the social context of family ties among founders leads them to a prevention focus concerned with avoiding the loss …