This study aims to discover how artificial intelligence adoption in notion (AI) plays a role in digital innovation using the theoretical foundation of diffusion of innovations and effectuation theories. The current research also investigates the moderating role of other edge Internet of Things (IoT) and the mediating role of adaptive resilience. The data collection is performed using a survey conducted among employees of family-owned SMEs. The findings reveal that AI forecasts digital innovation through adaptive resilience. The results also confirm the moderating role of threat to IoT edge and the mediating role of adaptive resilience, but moderated mediating is not supported. We conclude that family-owned SMEs intend to adopt AI, but SMEs face challenges using IoT edge. This study has implications for family firms specifically and technology adopters in general.

This article investigates how artificial intelligence (AI) adoption could affect knowledge acquisition and frugal innovation (FI) associations to enhance a family firm's resilience. In Germany, family-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) constitute the backbone of the economy, often characterised by long-term orientation, strong regional embeddedness, and conservative financing practices, which make them particularly relevant for studying resilience under technological disruption. A framework for this study is proposed and tested by integrating effectuation logic and the Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory. This research used a quantitative research technique and structural equation modelling, using data from family-run, SMEs in Germany, which account for a large share of employment and a significant portion of innovation activity in the Mittelstand context. The study employs time-lagged data to capture these dynamics. The study posits that AI adoption (AIA) has a crucial moderating function, and FI acts as a mediator in explaining organisational resilience (OR). This research combines effectuation logic and the DOI theory to answer the contradiction between augmentation and automation. The second contribution pertains to FI and its role in the nomological network involving AIA and OR. Third, this study advances methodological rigour in family firm research by applying a time-lagged SEM design, thereby contributing evidence from the comparatively underexplored context of German family SMEs.

Theoretical background: The family enterprises are regarded as the backbone of every economy. In Poland, it is estimated that more than 60% of small and medium-sized enterprises are family businesses. Taking into account the particularities of the Polish economy in connection with the period of political transformation after 1989, the majority of family firms are in the hands of the founding families respectively the first generation. The question of the succession process is of great importance for all family companies, but especially for Polish family businesses, since in the former communist system no private property could be passed on to future generations. The Polish entrepreneurial families therefore do not have enough practical succession experience. Moreover, the Polish society is still characterized by a conservative world view or female view, which means that the majority of entrepreneurs choose the eldest son as their potential successor. Purpose of the article: The aim of the study is to present the history of daughters successors in Polish family businesses in institutional context of transforming economy. The research follows the qualitative paradigm to find context sensitive data on female successors in family businesses in Poland. Research methods: The research was designed and conducted according to the qualitative paradigm as this is the best way to understand the social realities of the actors involved. The research material was collected through semi-structured interviews with three daughters-successors in Polish family firms. The authors conducted with each female successor two interviews – a total of six interviews. The interviews last on average 1.5 hours. The longest last 2.5 hours. The interviews took place at the companies’ headquarters. The interviewed persons were women from family-owned businesses. Main findings: Taking into account the data collected, it can be assumed that the education of the next generation in the entrepreneurial families has a direct influence on the probability of a takeover. The study indirectly showed that society’s attitude towards working women in Poland has changed. This survey can make an important contribution to the understanding of the dynamics that prevail in Polish family-run companies. These findings can in turn help to develop recommendations or guidelines for those business in the succession process.