Knowledge judgment, managerial decision-making, and firm performance: From the perspective of entrepreneurial spirit reconfiguration in second-generation family businesses

Author

Xinhua LI, Singapore Management UniversityFollow

Publication Type

PhD Dissertation

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

3-2025

Abstract

Since the reform and opening up, Chinese family businesses, as the main body of the private economy, have played a significant role in the development of the national economy. As the first - generation entrepreneurs are entering their later years, inter - generational succession has become an important issue. This doctoral thesis focuses on the dynamic reshaping process of the entrepreneurial spirit of the second - generation entrepreneurs in family businesses and explores how it affects the improvement of corporate performance. Based on the cutting - edge theories of Austrian economics, this study constructs a research framework of "knowledge judgment - business decision - corporate performance". It adopts methods such as literature review, case analysis, and questionnaire survey. Taking the Lentan Group as a typical case, an empirical study is carried out on some family businesses in Henan Province.

The research findings are as follows:

(1) The first - generation entrepreneurs mainly rely on experience - based judgment to make decisions, while the second - generation entrepreneurs make decisions based on knowledge - based judgment. The business decisions of both directly affects corporate performance.

(2) The entrepreneurial spirit of the second - generation entrepreneurs is cultivated and enhanced in the interactive relationship of "knowledge ability - business decision - corporate performance", showing the characteristics driven by new knowledge.

(3) Reshaping the entrepreneurial spirit of the second - generation entrepreneurs are the key to the successful inter - generational succession of family businesses and a decisive factor in achieving high - quality development. The research conclusions provide a theoretical basis and practical guidance for the cultivation and enhancement of the entrepreneurial spirit of the second - generation entrepreneurs in family businesses, and are of great significance for promoting the transformation, upgrading, and high - quality development of family businesses.

Keywords

First-Generation Family Business Entrepreneurs, Second-Generation Entrepreneurial Spirit, Knowledge Judgment, Managerial Decision-Making, Firm Performance

Degree Awarded

Doctor of Bus Admin (CKGSB)

Discipline

Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations | Finance and Financial Management

Supervisor(s)

FU, Fangjian

First Page

1

Last Page

441

Publisher

Singapore Management University

City or Country

Singapore

Citation

LI, Xinhua. Knowledge judgment, managerial decision-making, and firm performance: From the perspective of entrepreneurial spirit reconfiguration in second-generation family businesses. (2025). 1-441.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/etd_coll/750

Copyright Owner and License

Author

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.