Purpose: The knowledge transfer plays a key role in the firm’s capability to develop and to maintain a strategic competitive advantage over time. The capability of the firm to develop an efficient and effective process of knowledge transfer increases the internal skills and then the capability to compete in the business with positive effects on the performance. In order to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of the knowledge transfer process it must be consider two main variables: the amount of knowledge to be transferred and the speed of the process. In this contest, the purpose of this paper is to developed a theoretical model, defined the knowledge transfer curve, able to evaluate the knowledge transfer process on the basis of its speed.Design/methodology/approach: The curve of the knowledge transfer is based on the methodology of the learning curve. The curve of the knowledge transfer process can be evaluated on the basis of two main variables: the first is the content of knowledge to be transferred. It refers to the quality and quantity of the information to be transferred within the firm; and the second is the speed of the knowledge transfer process. It refers to the time in which the knowledge transfer can be realized. The function of the knowledge transfer is defined using ordinary differential equation.Findings: There is an inverse relationship between timetand the variation rater. The higher the variabler, the faster the knowledge transfer toward the levelK. Therefore, the variablermeasures the efficiency and effectiveness of the knowledge transfer process. On the basis of these considerations, manager must evaluate their policies about the knowledge transfer on the basis of their effects on the variabler: only the policy that increases its value can be considered effective for the knowledge transfer process.Originality/value: The originality resides in the development of a theoretical model that is able to capture and measure the effectiveness and efficiency of the knowledge transfer. It is possible to define a curve of knowledge transfer on the basis of these two variables: content of the knowledge to be transferred and the time of the transfer process, by using an ordinary differential equation.

Based on social capital theory and the family‐firm context, this paper studies familiness' composition and the result of the overlap of the family and firm systems, analysing their influence on the internationalisation strategies of family firms. In this relationship, the stakeholder engagement becomes at the same time an antecedent and a result when developing family businesses' strategies, being one of the most relevant the internationalisation strategies. Prior research focused on familiness as the result of proxy variables such as the percentage of ownership and management in family hands, or business size, instead of as psychological variables resulting from shared organisational culture and social interactions. Through a qualitative study based on 12 interviews of general managers and/or export managers of Spanish family olive oil mills, this study asserts that the level of familiness influences internationalisation strategies, the reasons underlying a business becoming international and its commitment to activities abroad being the role of stakeholders crucial in those interactions. The higher the level of familiness, the more likely the family business internationalisation and the higher their levels of international commitment. Additionally, the higher the concern about their stakeholders, the higher their levels of international commitment. The family businesses' concern for their stakeholders and their international commitment share a reciprocal relationship. The results regarding the relevance of familiness as social capital resources in sustaining competitive advantages support the decision to promote, develop and nurture social capital when a family business goes international.

Purpose: By investigating the reactions of family businesses to COVID-19 pandemic this article aims to explaining how family firms are capable to preserve employment during hardship.Design/methodology/approach: Stemming from resource-based-view, we theorise that familiness is not directly associated with new hiring but instead fully mediated by pivoting strategic decisions (the propensity to transform the business).Findings: Our findings show that familiness triggers pivoting strategic decisions and consequently increases the likelihood of new hiring. Additionally, we found that the involvement of multiple generations strengthens this relationship.Practical implications: Family firms must consolidate their family human and social resources (familiness) and assure the presence of multiple generations in the firm because they can leverage their entrepreneurial disposition and increase the need to preserve employment and new hires during crises.Originality/value: The main contribution lies in the explanation of the mechanisms that family firms deploy to overcome a crisis and thus explains why some family firms are more resilient than others in relation to firm’s employment during hardship.

Intangible assets in the internationalization of Spanish wineries: Directive and compared perception between family and non family businesses