This study examines the relationship between entrepreneurial alertness, long-term and short-term focus and sustainable entrepreneurship in the context of young family firms. Additionally, we investigate how family management and long-term/short-term focus moderate the relationship between entrepreneurial alertness and sustainable entrepreneurship. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the factors influencing sustainable entrepreneurship in family firms.
This quantitative study investigated 707 young family firms in Portugal. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the data and test the proposed hypotheses.
The results indicate a positive relationship between young family firms’ entrepreneurial alertness and sustainable entrepreneurship. Also relevant is that long-term focus is positively related to sustainable entrepreneurship, while short-term focus shows a negative relationship, challenging the temporal ambidexterity of new ventures. Conversely, two moderating effects were found: family management weakens and short-term focus strengthens the relationship between entrepreneurial alertness and sustainable entrepreneurship.
As far as we know, this study is the first one to explore the link between the entrepreneurial alertness of young family firms and sustainable entrepreneurship. It is also the first study to explore the contradictory impacts of both long-term focus and short-term focus on sustainable entrepreneurship.
