Openness to knowledge: does corporate social responsibility mediate the relationship between familiness and absorptive capacity?

Pü z, Lau a; Schell, Sab ina; We ne , A nd A icle — Published Ve sion Openness o knowledge: does co po a e social esponsibili y media e he ela ionship be ween amiliness and abso p i e capaci y? Small Business Economics P o ided in Coope a ion wi h: Sp inge Na u e Sugges ed Ci a ion: Pü z, Lau a; Schell, Sab ina; We ne , A nd (2022) : Openness o knowledge: does co po a e social esponsibili y media e he ela ionship be ween amiliness and abso p i e capaci y?, Small Business Economics, ISSN 1573-0913, Sp inge US, New Yo k, NY, Vol. 60, Iss. 4, pp. 1449-1482, h ps://doi.o g/10.1007/s11187-022-00671-0 This Ve sion is a ailable a : h ps://hdl.handle.ne /10419/307406 S anda d-Nu zungsbedingungen: Die Dokumen e au EconS o dü en zu eigenen wissenscha lichen Zwecken und zum P i a geb auch gespeiche und kopie we den. Sie dü en die Dokumen e nich ü ö en liche ode komme zielle Zwecke e iel äl igen, ö en lich auss ellen, ö en lich zugänglich machen, e eiben ode ande wei ig nu zen. 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Lau aPü z· Sab inaSchell· A nd We ne Accep ed: 27 July 2022 © The Au ho (s) 2022 employ hei amily-speci ic esou ces o es ablish co po a e social esponsibili y ac i i ies, which, in u n, a e used as a s a egic ins umen o s eng hen hei dynamic capabili ies. Plain English Summa y Family i ms can capi al- ize on speci ic co po a e social esponsibili y ac i i- ies because hese incen i ize s akeholde s o sha e hei knowledge wi h he amily i m. Co po a e social esponsibili y can be used by amily i ms as a s a e- gic managemen ool o open up he amily business o knowledge sha ing wi h in e nal and ex e nal s ake- holde s. This is pa icula ly impo an o amily i ms because amily-speci ic esou ces posi i ely a ec he execu ion o he i m’s co po a e social esponsibili y ac i i ies. In o he wo ds, he abili y o le e age amily esou ces h ough co po a e social esponsibili y ac i - i ies con ibu es o he abili y o implemen abso p i e capaci y in he amily i m. Howe e , while execu - ing co po a e social esponsibili y measu es can be economically wo hwhile, a dis inc ion mus be made be ween di e en co po a e social esponsibili y ac i i- ies, as no all o hem a e bene icial wi h espec o he implemen a ion o abso p i e capaci y in amily i ms. Keywo ds Family i ms· Familiness· Co po a e social esponsibili y· Dynamic capabili ies· Abso p i e capaci y· Signaling heo y JEL Classi ica ion M14· D8· L14· L21 Abs ac Being open o abso b ex e nal knowl- edge is a key compe i i e ad an age o small- and medium-sized amily i ms. In his s udy, we p opose and es a model in which co po a e social espon- sibili y is he key ea u e linking amily-speci ic esou ces (i.e., amiliness) o he amily i m’s abil- i y o abso b ex e nal knowledge. By in eg a ing di - e en heo e ical pe spec i es, we a gue ha amily i ms use co po a e social esponsibili y ac i i ies as signals o build us and long- e m ela ionships wi h in e nal and ex e nal s akeholde s, incen i izing hese g oups o sha e hei knowledge wi h he amily i m. The empi ical analysis is based on da a om 327 Ge man small- and medium-sized amily i ms. The esul s o he analyses suppo ou main hypo heses ha he ela ionship be ween amiliness and abso p- i e capaci y is posi i ely media ed by employee- and cus ome -o ien ed co po a e social esponsibili y ac i i ies. Al hough hypo hesized, we ind no media- ion e ec o communi y-o ien ed co po a e social esponsibili y ac i i ies. In sum, he s udy con ibu es o he unde s anding o how and why amily i ms L.Pü z· A.We ne (*) Chai o SME Managemen andEn ep eneu ship, Siegen Uni e si y, Un e es Schloß 3, 57072Siegen, Ge many e-mail: A nd .We [email p o ec ed] S.Schell Ins i u e o New Wo k, Business School, Uni e si y o Applied Sciences Be n, B ückens . 73, 3005Be n, Swi ze land / Published online: 26 Augus 2022 Small Bus Econ (2023) 60:1449–1482 L. Pü z e al. 1 3 Vol:. (1234567890) 1 In oduc ion O ganiza ions oday a e pa o “knowledge-based economy” (Melnikas, 2010). Knowledge and in o - ma ion ha e become he hea o economic g ow h, and companies mus be able o dynamically abso b and use his knowledge (Da id & Fo ay, 2003; Male ba & McKel ey, 2020). Teece e  al.’s (1997) dynamic capabili ies heo y p o ides a amewo k ha add esses how collec i e lea ning pa e ns enable i ms o change hei esou ce base, using abso p i e capaci y (AC) o deal wi h knowledge (Ba e o, 2010; Teece e al., 1997; Zollo & Win e , 2002). Abso p- i e capaci y is de ined as a se o o ganiza ional ou- ines and p ocesses, by which i ms acqui e, assimi- la e, ans o m, and exploi new ex e nal knowledge, adding i o he i m’s knowledge base o p oduce dynamic capabili ies. By doing so, i ms can gain and sus ain compe i i e ad an ages, especially in e y dynamic en i onmen s (Cohen & Le in hal, 1990; Lewin e al., 2011; Volbe da e  al., 2010; Zah a & Geo ge, 2002). Howe e , o abso b ex e nal knowl- edge, companies mus no only be open o hei en i- onmen (Lane e al., 2001), bu hey mus also ensu e ha ex e nal and in e nal s akeholde s sha e knowl- edge wi h hem, o example, by being pe cei ed as us wo hy o ganiza ions (Jansen e al., 2005; Lane e al., 2006). In an o ganiza ional con ex , s akehold- e s assess he us wo hiness o he ocal o ganiza- ion (Maye e al., 1995). Acco dingly, o a company o be conside ed us wo hy (Ab ams e  al., 2003; Chowdhu y, 2005; Gausdal, 2015), c edible in o ma- ion mus be a ailable. The majo i y o companies in Ge many is small- and medium-sized amily businesses (SMEs), which a e economically e y success ul (De Massis e al., 2018). Because AC is an impo an p e equisi e o emaining inno a i e and compe i i e in a globalized wo ld (Chen e al., 2009; Lane e al., 2006; Naga i & Rebolledo, 2012; Volbe da e al., 2010), he s udy a hand analyses i and how he in luence o he amily membe s on he amily i m a ec AC. This esea ch ques ion has no ye been su icien ly s udied ei he heo e ically o empi ically in amily businesses esea ch. Mo eo e , he ew s udies analyzing he an eceden s o AC in a amily business con ex ha e mos ly igno ed he he e ogenei y o amily businesses (Ande sén, 2015; Daspi e  al., 2019; Ko la e  al., 2020). Excep ions a e he s udies o Ande sén (2015), Daspi e al. (2019), and Ko la e al. (2020) who ana- lyze he ela ionship be ween amiliness and AC in a concep ual le el. Ou a icle in ends o ill an impo - an gap in esea ch li e a u e by inco po a ing amili- ness in an empi ical analysis as a unique impac ac o e lec ing he he e ogeneous in luence o he amily membe s on he amily business, which—acco ding o ou heo e ical and empi ical model—will ha e an e ec on AC ia co po a e social esponsibili y (CSR). Acco dingly, he companies in ou s udy a e all amily-owned SMEs—howe e , hey di e in hei deg ee o amiliness. D awing on signaling heo y, we p opose ha amily businesses mus send c edible signals, ha hey a e eady o abso b in o ma ion and con e hem in o knowledge (Connelly e al., 2011; Spence, 1973). In his con ex , appea ing us wo hy as a i m will be an ad an age. This us wo hiness can s em om amily businesses cha ac e is ics ela ing o hei long- e m o ien a ion, hei unde s anding o alues, o he esponsibili y ha comes wi h ma ch- ing he amily’s name wi h he business. Speci ically, we ollow F ank e al. (2017) and hei unde s and- ing o amiliness. F ank and colleagues ocused hei analysis on he ques ion, how he amily membe s can in luence he i m. Family expec a ions no only guide he ela ionship be ween he amily mem- be s, hey also unc ion as manageable “ ules o he game” and c ea e guidance by educing complexi y, ha can make he o ganiza ion un mo e e icien ly. Picking up he discussion a his poin , we a gue ha such decision p emises “ha e he po en ial o become esou ces and capabili ies in he sense o he RBV [ esou ce based iew] i hey mee he VRIN [ alu- able, a e, inimi able, and non-subs i u able] c i e- ia” (F ank e al., 2017, p. 714). Howe e , we also a gue ha amily i ms ha e o use obse able signals e lec ing hei amily-speci ic in en ions o build us and long- e m ela ionships wi h in e nal and ex e nal s akeholde s, incen i izing hese g oups o sha e hei knowledge wi h he amily i m. A he same ime, amily i ms ha e a g ea e need o con ol and a e eluc an o open up (De Kok & Uhlane , 2001; Fe ani a e  al., 2017; Memili e al., 2015). They show less coope a ion in o de o a oid incong uen ac ions and a dependence on ex e nal pa ne s (B inke ink, 2018; Daspi e al., 2019; Ko la e al., 2020). Because o his, amily i ms c ea e an insula i y in which hey p ima ily use hei exis ing 1450 Openness o knowledge: does co po a e social esponsibili y media e he ela ionship be ween… 1 3 Vol.: (0123456789) knowledge (Belkhodja & Dagh ous, 2020; Daspi e  al., 2019) and only supplemen his wi h long- s anding (ex e nal) knowledge sou ces ha hey us (B inke ink, 2018). Family businesses he e o e need o execu e obse able measu es wi h which hey con- ey hei openness as well as hei us wo hiness, which ecipien s and po en ial s akeholde s who wan o sha e knowledge pe cei e and in e p e . These measu es can lie in he a ea o CSR (Kim, 2019; Ma ínez & Rod íguez del Bosque, 2013) and, as we will a gue, e lec he bundle o amily expec a ions, which mani es hemsel es in he di e en dimen- sions o amiliness. The dynamic abili y o espond o s akeholde needs is pa icula ly impo an o SMEs o main ain business ela ionships and each new ma ke s (Ganca czyk & Ganca czyk, 2016). In his con ex , we posi ha i amily businesses wi h hese speci ic cha ac e is ics do no succeed in signaling hem o in e nal and ex e nal s akeholde s, hey will be unable o open he bounda ies o he amily i m o o e come hei lack o knowledge esou ces (e.g., h ough communica ing and building sha ed alues and knowledge sha ing wi h ex e nal s akeholde s) (B inke ink e  al., 2017; Ze bini, 2017). Mo eo e , acco ding o signaling heo y, especially he signal obse abili y is impo an (Connelly e  al., 2011). Consequen ly, conc e e, pe cep ible, and, i neces- sa y, cos ly signals a e needed ha can be pe cei ed by po en ial s akeholde s and e alua ed as c edible o es ablish us wo hy ela ionships wi h hei in e nal and ex e nal s akeholde s gain and sus ain compe i- i e ad an ages by building dynamic capabili ies pe - aining o new knowledge c ea ion (Bange e e al., 2012; Chowdhu y, 2005). While CSR ac i i ies a e some imes a gued o be an impo an in luencing ac o ha may also ena- ble he acquisi ion o ex e nal knowledge (Belyae a e al., 2020; Fo cadell e al., 2021; Zah a & Geo ge, 2002), li le is known abou he ex en o which am- ily i ms employ CSR o inc ease us -based com- munica ion and hei isibili y o suppo knowledge ans e ac i i ies like (open) inno a ion (De Mas- sis e al., 2018; Kim, 2019). While cu en esea ch on CSR in amily business li e a u e is ocused on image, epu a ion, and inancial pe o mance (Falle & zu Knyphausen-Au seß, 2018; Van Gils e  al., 2014; Vazquez, 2018), we posi ha CSR ac i i ies a e no only di ec ed ou wa ds, bu can also ha e in e nal e ec s wi hin companies as well. These can be closely ela ed o he “long- un mindse ” (p. 132) and “supe io employee ela ions” (p. 133) desc ibed by De Massis e al. (2018). Simila ly, De Massis and colleagues indica e ha “ he alues and cul u e o amilies ha own a Mi els and i m o en ansla e in o a highe sense o communi y in ol emen […] and g ea e social esponsibili y owa d he commu- ni y, esul ing in inc eased isibili y and a be e epu- a ion in he su ounding communi y” (also see C uz e al., 2014; De Massis e al., 2018, p. 136). Thus, his s udy also builds on a g owing body o esea ch ha has ecen ly begun o ecognize ha amily i ms’ CSR ac i i ies may be an impo an way o emphasize, o example, he unique alue o i- en a ion and long- e m o ien a ion o he amily i m (Zien a a, 2017). Essen ially, we a gue ha he spe- ci ic dimensions o CSR, wi h he ocus on ex e nal s akeholde s (cus ome s and supplie s) and in e nal s akeholde s (employees) (El Ak emi e  al., 2018), unc ion as c edible quali y signals o open up he company o and o s akeholde s, b idging he gap be ween amily-speci ic esou ces and he amily i m’s capabili y o abso b ex e nal knowledge. While AC is acknowledged as an essen ial abili y o gene - a e compe i i e ad an ages by c ea ing new knowl- edge (Jansen e  al., 2005; Lewin e  al., 2011; Vol- be da e al., 2010), i is s ill unde esea ched in he con ex o amily businesses (De Massis e al., 2013; Ko la e  al., 2020). Recen li e a u e a gues ha amily-speci ic cha ac e is ics can in luence AC in di e en ways (Ande sén, 2015). Fo example, am- ily in ol emen seems o be signi ican and can close o widen he gap be ween po en ial and ealized AC, depending on he inno a ion p ocess and he ex e - nal sea ch s a egy (B inke ink, 2018). Mo eo e , Ko la and colleagues p esen a concep ual model, in which amily owne ship has bo h posi i e and nega- i e in luences on AC (Ko la e al., 2020). Emo ional a achmen and ea o losing powe causes a lowe ex e nal iew, bu p omo es a ocus on aci knowl- edge and in e nal sha ing (Ko la e al., 2020). How- e e , esea ch on AC and amily-speci ic esou ces in amily i ms is s ill in i s in ancy, especially conce n- ing o e coming he nega i e e ec o amily-speci ic esou ces o e icien ly use hem in ela ion o AC (Ande sén, 2015; B inke ink, 2018; Daspi e  al., 2019; Ko la e al., 2020). We p opose ha speci ic CSR ac i i ies u ilize and open up he amily i m’s esou ces (i.e., amiliness) 1451 L. Pü z e al. 1 3 Vol:. (1234567890) o success ully use AC. In sum, he pape conside s he ollowing esea ch ques ion: How (and o wha ex en ) does CSR media e he ela ionship be ween amily-speci ic esou ces (i.e., amiliness) and AC in small and medium-sized amily businesses? Based on in-dep h media ion analysis wi h da a om 327 Ge man amily SMEs, we show ha CSR is he key ea u e linking amily i ms o he willing- ness and capabili y o explo e, assimila e, and exploi new ex e nal knowledge. Speci ically, we ind ha he ela ionship be ween amiliness and po en ial AC is pa ially media ed by cus ome -o ien ed CSR. Realized AC is ully media ed by employee- and cus- ome -o ien ed CSR. In e es ingly, al hough hypo h- esized, we ind no empi ical suppo o a media ed ela ionship h ough communi y-o ien ed CSR. We conclude ha amily businesses p ac icing CSR gain and sus ain dynamic capabili ies and compe i i e ad an ages because CSR also enhances hei amily i m’s abili y o ecognize he alue o new, ex e nal knowledge, assimila e i , and apply i o comme cial ends (Zah a & Geo ge, 2002). Ou s udy can con ibu e o he li e a u e in se e al ways: Fi s ly, he esul s o he analysis show ha he ela ionship be ween amiliness and AC is media ed by CSR ac i i ies. This sugges s ha amiliness com- bined wi h he p ac ice o CSR can c ea e a compe i- i e ad an age— he ans e o knowledge is easie o his ype o i m i amiliness is p onounced and used o ac i a e CSR. This leads o a as e eac ion o ma ke changes, which enhances he capabili y o su i e (Eisenha d & Ma in, 2000; Ramachand an, 2011; Zah a & Geo ge, 2002). In o he wo ds, we con ibu e o amiliness li e a u e by showing ha a high deg ee o amiliness alone may no be enough: measu es such as CSR ac i i ies mus be aken o ac i ely u ilize he amily-speci ic esou ce base (Ande sén, 2015; Daspi e al., 2019). Secondly, we con ibu e o he discussion on he ex en o he capabili y and willingness pa adox in amily i ms (Ch isman e al., 2015; Debellis e al., 2020; Veide & Ma zle , 2016) in he con ex o AC. We demons a e ha h ough CSR ac i i ies, amily- owned companies can make hei abili y isible by sending ou ex e nal signals o by p omo ing supe io employee ela ions (Uhlane e  al., 2004). Co po- a e social esponsibili y ac i i ies can help o open he bounda ies o he amily business; o enhance he dynamic capabili ies o he amily business; and, abo e all, o make he company mo e pe meable o in o ma ion and knowledge wi hou ha ing o elin- quish oo much con ol (Luo & Du, 2015; Tu ke , 2009). Howe e , his equi es ac i e in es men in CSR as a s a egic ins umen , which in u n c ea es new in angible esou ces like social capi al and ne - wo ks (Memili e al., 2015; P ice e al., 2013). Thi dly, we con ibu e o he AC li e a u e by enhancing he limi ed knowledge a ailable o da e abou amily businesses. We also show ha CSR imp o es he bounda y condi ions o success ul AC and can hus unc ion as a p ecu so o AC in he amily business con ex . The eby, a high le el o amiliness has a posi i e e ec on his ela ionship. In addi ion o di ec managemen decisions, shap- ing he bounda y condi ions and i m cul u e c ea es an en i onmen ui ul o knowledge abso p ion. Exis ing ba ie s in he implemen a ion o AC can be b idged h ough CSR. Since speci ic CSR ac i i- ies a e in e nally and ex e nally o ien ed (Fa ooq e al., 2017; Lewin e al., 2011), hey can p omo e bo h po en ial and ealized AC. This sugges s ha a high deg ee o amiliness combined wi h he p ac- ice o CSR can c ea e a compe i i e ad an age— he ans e o knowledge is easie o hese amily i ms i amiliness is p onounced and used o ac i a e CSR, which is obse able o he s akeholde s and incen i - izes hese g oups o sha e hei knowledge wi h he amily i m. The emainde o he pape is s uc u ed as ol- lows: In he nex wo sec ions, he heo e ical ame- wo k and hypo heses a e in oduced. Sec ions4 and 5 discuss he empi ical design and he esul s. The inal sec ion discusses key indings, limi a ions, and po en- ial u u e esea ch oppo uni ies. 2 Theo e ical amewo k 2.1 Familiness While a majo i y o all companies in he wo ld a e amily i ms (Ge sick e al., 1997; Schulze & Geda- jlo ic, 2010), he de ini ions o amily i ms di e in hei componen s. Ne e heless, hey all show ha he ole o he amily and he speci ic amily cul u e a e ele an o di e en ia e amily businesses om non- amily businesses o he di e ences be ween di e en 1452 Openness o knowledge: does co po a e social esponsibili y media e he ela ionship be ween… 1 3 Vol.: (0123456789) amily i ms. The e o e, he ole o he amily and he amily membe s in luence on he amily i m is s ongly e lec ed in he concep o amiliness in o- duced by Habbe shon and Williams (1999). Famili- ness is embedded in he amewo k o he esou ce- based iew and can be de ined as “ he unique bundle o esou ces a pa icula i m has because o he sys em in e ac ion be ween he amily, i s indi idual membe s, and he business.” (Habbe shon & Williams, 1999, p. 11). Consequen ly, he concep o amili- ness—widely ecognized in he con ex o amily business esea ch—conside s bo h he amily and i s in luence o e owne ship and managemen (Ch is- man e al., 2003; Pea son e al., 2008; San os e al., 2020; Zellwege e al., 2010). F ank e al. (2017) in oduced he “ amily in luence amiliness scale” (FIFS), which measu es amily membe ’s in luence in i s he e ogenei y. De ined om a esou ce-based pe spec i e, amiliness is a bundle o capabili ies and aluable, a e, inimi able, and non-subs i u able esou ces speci ic o a amily business, which esul om amily in ol emen . Th ough he sys em in e - ac ion o he amily, i s indi idual membe s, and he business, amily membe s can in luence he i m h ough hei decision p emises. This in u n guides he ela ionship be ween he amily mem- be s, can he e o e unc ion as manageable “ ules o he game,” and can c ea e guidance by educ- ing complexi y, which makes he o ganiza ion un mo e e icien ly. Mo eo e , Daspi e  al., (2019) a gue ha amiliness can a ec inno a ion ou - comes ia AC. In hei concep ual model, hey p o- pose ha amiliness bo h enhances and cons ic s he componen s o AC. 2.2 Dynamic capabili y and abso p i e capaci y Family i ms mus con inuously adap o changing condi ions o s ay in business o he long e m and o be able o hand he business o e o he nex gen- e a ion (Ch isman e al., 2005; Eisenha d & Ma in, 2000; Zah a & Geo ge, 2002). The dynamic capa- bili y pe spec i e de eloped by Teece e  al. (1997) add esses he p ocess o adap a ion o a dynamic en i- onmen . I consis s o wo componen s: “dynamic,” which is based on he ac ha companies need o enew and de elop hei compe encies o su i e in a dynamic en i onmen ; and “capabili y,” he use o in e nal and ex e nal skills and esou ces o espond o changing en i onmen al condi ions (Eisenha d & Ma in, 2000; Teece e al., 1997), o gene a e compe - i i e ad an ages (Eisenha d & Ma in, 2000; Teece e al., 1997). We de ine dynamic capabili y acco ding o Teece e al. (1997) “as he i m’s abili y o in e- g a e, build, and econ igu e in e nal and ex e nal compe ences o apidly changing en i onmen s” (p. 516). Dynamic capabili ies include a ious cha ac e - is ics ha usually in luence di e en ou ines (o gani- za ional and s a egic). These can be ex e nal esou ce acquisi ion and in eg a ion, lea ning mechanisms, o local abili ies; AC uni es hese mechanisms (Ba - os e al., 2016; Eisenha d & Ma in, 2000; Zah a & Geo ge, 2002; Zollo & Win e , 2002). Nowadays, because o he changes in he economy o a knowledge-based socie y, AC is especially impo - an o companies as a dimension o dynamic capa- bili ies (Beli ski e al., 2019; Male ba & McKel ey, 2020; Siegel & Renko, 2012). Cohen and Le in hal (1990) in oduced AC o esea ch li e a u e as he abili y o i ms o explo e ex e nal knowledge. Zah a and Geo ge (2002) modi y he cons uc and de ined AC as “a se o o ganiza ional ou ines and p ocesses by which i ms acqui e, assimila e, ans o m, and exploi knowledge o p oduce a dynamic capabili y” (Zah a & Geo ge, 2002, p. 186). Thus, hey di e en i- a e be ween po en ial AC (i.e., acquisi ion and assimi- la ion abili ies) and ealized AC ( ans o ma ion and exploi a ion capabili ies). Toge he , he model can be used o map he comple e p ocess o knowledge ans- e , om he iden i ica ion o he ele an knowledge o i s use in he company (Zah a & Geo ge, 2002). In his pape , we ollow (Zah a & Geo ge, 2002, p. 185) and de ine AC “as a dynamic capabili y pe aining o knowledge c ea ion and u iliza ion ha enhances a i m’s abili y o gain and sus ain a compe i i e ad an- age.” In line wi h hese a gumen s and he dynamic capabili y pe spec i e, we emphasize ha he e a e bo h in e nal and ex e nal dimensions o AC. Bo h o ien a ions—in e nal and ex e nal—a e designed o make he i m open o explo ing new ideas and willing o back he mos p omising o hem wi h esou ces and alen s (Denning, 2005). 2.3 Co po a e social esponsibili y and signaling heo y Businesses mus be open o emain compe i i e and build he dynamic capabili y o adap o he needs 1453 L. Pü z e al. 1 3 Vol:. (1234567890) o hei s akeholde s (Fang e al., 2010; Ramachan- d an, 2011). Due o globaliza ion, clima e change, and isk managemen , s akeholde s such as in es- o s, banks, insu ance companies, and cus ome s a e inc easingly paying a en ion o whe he companies a e implemen ing CSR s a egies and measu es (Ali e  al., 2017; Haack e  al., 2020; Haski-Le en hal e al., 2017; Ma en & Moon, 2020). In his pape , we ollow he Wo ld Business Council o Sus ainable De elopmen (2000) and de ine CSR as “ he com- mi men o business o con ibu e o sus ainable eco- nomic de elopmen , wo king wi h employees, hei amilies, he local communi y and socie y a la ge o imp o e hei quali y o li e” (Wo ld Business Council o Sus ainable De elopmen , 2000, p. 10). In he las wo decades, CSR has de eloped om being de en- si e o being oppo uni y o ien ed; he cu en ocus is on gene a ing compe i i e ad an ages in a dynamic en i onmen h ough in angible, CSR- ela ed asse s (Da ies & C ane, 2010; S oian & Gilman, 2017). Family i ms use in e nal and ex e nal CSR o build us , us wo hiness, and long- e m ela ionships wi h ex e nal and in e nal s akeholde s, incen i izing hese g oups o sha e hei knowledge and build new esou ces o de elop dynamic capabili y. Based on his, i can be seen ha companies use CSR as a posi i e signal, a ac ha can be explained by he indings o he signaling heo y. The e o e, he heo e ical basis o dynamic capabili y is supple- men ed by he signaling heo y in connec ion wi h CSR. Signaling heo y a emp s o sol e he p oblem o p incipal agen heo y and se es o educe in o - ma ion asymme ies (Connelly e  al., 2011; Spence, 1973). Signals mus be obse able. Howe e , beyond me e obse abili y, he i o signals plays an impo - an ole. Connelly e al. (2011) desc ibe he signal i as “ he ex en o which he signal is co ela ed wi h unobse able quali y” (p. 53). Schola s di e en ia e be ween cos ly signals and ha d- o- ake signals (Bang- e e e  al., 2012). Ha d- o- ake signals a e beyond conscious con ol. Cos ly signals equi e in es ing in esou ces o acqui e and display (Be gh e al., 2014). To ensu e ha hese signals a e c edibly pe cei ed by he ecei e , such signals should be cos ly and di i- cul o ob ain o show ha only highly quali ied i ms can pe o m hem in he long un (Connelly e  al., 2011; Spence, 1973). The sende ies o send a sig- nal wi h a ce ain in en ion (he e CSR) o gene a e a co esponding in ension o he ecei e (he e building us wo hiness). These signals a e sen ou o c ea e a ela ionship be ween he company and i s s akehold- e s, o open up he bounda ies o he company and o encou age i s s akeholde s o ans e in o ma ion. Howe e , hese signals mus be c edible. These meas- u es can be o a ious kinds, such as high p oduc quali y, equal employmen , sa e wo king condi ions, o ce i ica es o sus ainable co po a e go e nance (Zhang e al., 2020). I is also c ucial ha he company is a a disad an age i hese measu es a e no com- munica ed p ope ly. These nega i e e ec s a e mo e se e e o amily businesses, especially SMEs wi h a high le el o amiliness. Th ough he in eg a ion o he amily, he nega i e image also alls back on hem, especially i he company and he amily bea he same name, om which bo h can only eco e wi h di icul y due o he lowe esou ces (As achan e al., 2018; Du, 2015; Kim e al., 2017). Howe e , amily businesses wi h a high le el o amiliness can also ob ain he CSR signals mo e cos -e ec i ely han amily businesses wi h a lowe le el o amiliness. A high le el o amiliness e lec s a s ong amily bond and a s ong iden i ica ion o he amily membe s wi h he company, whe eby amily and company become “one” (F ank e al., 2017). This esul s in s ong al- ues and a mo al ocus ha a e li ed ou by he am- ily membe s in he company (O’Boyle e al., 2010). Thus, high deg ees o amiliness cons i u ing he basic s uc u e o he o ganiza ion and he way decisions a e made by he amily membe s con eys a highe le el o us owa ds s akeholde s, as nega i e e en s ha e a nega i e impac on long- e m o ien a ion and also a ec he amily h ough he o ganiza ional iden- i y (As achan e al., 2018; F ank e al., 2017). Thus, CSR signals e lec ing o he wise unobse able amily decision p emises a e mo e cos -e ec i e o p oduce h ough amily businesses wi h high amiliness, as hey ha e be e esou ce alloca ion h ough amily cohesion (F ank e  al., 2017; McG a h & O’Toole, 2018). Since especially amily-owned SMEs o en ha e ew esou ces, cos ly in es men s in CSR only pay o h ough long- e m o ien a ion and a e only hen sus ainably in eg a ed in o he company’s s a - egy (Lee e al., 1999; S oian & Gilman, 2017). This sus ained implemen a ion is also accomplished mo e cos -e ec i ely because amily membe s a e hea - ily in ol ed in he e en s and s a egies o he amily business and, because o he amily’s be e in e ac ion wi h s akeholde s, mo e a ge ed CSR measu es can 1454 Openness o knowledge: does co po a e social esponsibili y media e he ela ionship be ween… 1 3 Vol.: (0123456789) be deployed (McG a h & O’Toole, 2018). I signals a e hones ly signaled, CSR is a popula ins umen o companies o build us and be iewed posi i ely by s akeholde s (Fo cadell e  al., 2021; Ze bini, 2017). Fu he mo e, he amily i ms’ long- e m commi - men o i s communi y, channeled by CSR, can lead o a s onge commi men o he company and he willingness o ecip oca e beha io among s akehold- e s, consequen ly leading o possible economic ad an- ages (Leoni, 2017; Niehm e al., 2008). E go, pe ma- nen social and en i onmen al CSR ac i i ies ha e a posi i e impac on he alue o he i m, leading o a consis en ly posi i e e alua ion by an addi ional s ake- holde g oup po en ial in es o s (Noo e al., 2020). 2.4 The ela ionship be ween amiliness and co po a e social esponsibili y Co po a e social esponsibili y ac i i ies a e con- duc ed by amily-speci ic esou ces o show ma ke pa ne s (e.g., cus ome s, employees, and communi y pa ne s) ha he amily business is ac ing sus ainably and ai ly (Chung e al., 2015; De Massis e al., 2018; Fo cadell e  al., 2021; Ismail, 2009; Pé ez & Rod- íguez del Bosque, 2015; Vlachos e al., 2013). S ock e  al. (2020) p o ide a heo e ical amewo k and empi ical e idence ha inc eased in eg a ion o he amily and i s alues in o he amily i m esul s in he execu ion o mo e CSR ac i i ies owa d employees, cus ome s, and he communi y. We ake hei esul s and a gumen s as a s a ing poin . Employee-o ien ed CSR ac i i ies, which ocus on he well-being o he employees, inc ease he mo i- a ion o employees o wo k o he company and hei o e all well-being (Fa ooq e  al., 2014, 2017; Lee e al., 2013). This, in u n, educes s a u no e (Fa ooq e al., 2014), leads o a highe job sa is ac ion (Luo & Du, 2015), and binds employees o he com- pany by building us and loyal y among he wo k- o ce (De Massis e al., 2018; Luo & Du, 2015; Tu ke , 2009). In amily i ms, he owne amily is closely connec ed o he amily business h ough managemen and owne ship, and o en also by he ac ha he am- ily business bea s he name o he amily (As achan e al., 2018). The mo e he amily is in eg a ed in o he company and he amily (name) is e lec ed in he business, he mo e he owne amily wan s o main ain i s company and amily epu a ion. As a esul , such owning amilies ha e highe mo i a ion o in es in employee-o ien ed CSR measu es (Binz e al., 2017; Sagede e al., 2018; Zellwege e al., 2013). Cus ome -o ien ed CSR ac i i ies can ha e a posi i e impac , binding cus ome s o he company and making hem mo e loyal, which leads o be e in e ac ion (Luo & Du, 2015). Small- and medium- sized amily i ms in pa icula depend on close cus ome ela ionships and s ong cus ome loyal y as hey o en ope a e in niche ma ke s (De Massis e  al., 2018). Mo eo e , amily i ms wan o keep hei businesses compe i i e o pass hem on o he nex gene a ion (Ch isman e  al., 2005; Chu chill & Ha en, 1997). Th ough his long- e m o ien a- ion, a s onge bond wi h he cus ome can be buil (De Massis e  al., 2018), which can lead he cus- ome s o engage in (open) inno a ion, o example, h ough ac i e in ol emen in he inno a ion p ocess (Lich en hale & Lich en hale , 2009). The amily is also inclined o conduc mo e cus ome -o ien ed CSR o p esen he amily well o he ou side wo ld (As a- chan e al., 2018; S ock e al., 2020). As amily i ms a e o en s ongly embedded in he egion and a ely eloca e (Basco, 2015; Uhlane e  al., 2012), communi y-o ien ed CSR ac i i ies a e impo an o hem. Family i ms use communi y-o i- en ed CSR measu es o be ecognized as us wo hy business pa ne s (El Ghoul e al., 2016), which also inc eases he epu a ion o he i m and he ecip oci y be ween he company and he communi y (Luo & Du, 2015; Sacconi, 2006). Fo small- and medium-sized amily businesses, epu a ion is especially impo an . The amily o en li es in he a ea whe e he company is loca ed (As achan e al., 2018; Bo e o e al., 2019). Thus, a s ong sense o amiliness and he use o he amily i m-speci ic esou ces leads o mo e CSR being exe cised in o de o s eng hen he epu a ion o he company and he amily in he egion (Basco, 2015; De Massis e al., 2018). In he nex sec ion, we ex end he model by ocusing on he ques ion o how CSR medi- a es he ela ionship be ween amiliness and AC. 3 Hypo heses de elopmen 3.1 The ela ionship be ween amiliness and abso p i e capaci y Family i ms a e cha ac e ized by unique esou ces ha esul om he in e ac ion be ween he amily and 1455 L. Pü z e al. 1 3 Vol:. (1234567890) he business (Daspi e al., 2019; Kelle manns e al., 2012; Minichilli e  al., 2010; Weismeie -Samme e  al., 2013). S ong amily and gene a ional hink- ing, which e lec s he long- e m o ien a ion o he company, is cha ac e is ic o amiliness (F ank e al., 2017). Consequen ly, he esou ces o he amily and he company a e also used o be able o pass he com- pany on o he nex gene a ion. This also includes a good will o he company, o a posi i e co po- a e image. Especially i he name o he company ma ches ha o he amily (As achan e al., 2018). To each his goal, a s ong in e ac ion wi h he en i on- men and impo an s akeholde can be a success ac- o . Small- and medium-sized amily businesses o en ha e long-s anding ies o he egion and can exhibi a s ong in e ac ion wi h hei en i onmen and s ake- holde s (De Massis e al., 2018). As a esul , amily i ms a e cha ac e ized by long- e m ela ionships wi h ex e nal s akeholde s (B inke ink, 2018) and a dis inc i e and unique ex e nal social capi al (Pea - son e al., 2008). This can posi i ely in luence knowl- edge ans e om ou side he company o he inside by building a common language—based on common knowledge base o backg ound cha ac e is ics— which is a key ac o o knowledge ans e (Lane & Luba kin, 1998; Volbe da e al., 2010) and can hus enhance he po en ial AC. S ong in ol emen o amily membe s also leads o be e knowledge in eg a ion (Zah a e al., 2007), as he amily membe s can sha e deep aci knowl- edge wi h he employees o de elop new compe en- cies wi h new ex e nal knowledge (Pa el & Fie , 2011). Family i ms in pa icula ake g ea ca e o ha e “a eliable pe manen s a ” (F ank e al., 2017, p. 728) and “ ha he amily membe s wo king in he company ha e a li ely exchange wi h non amily employees” (F ank e al., 2017, p. 728). This li ely exchange making knowledge exchange and in eg a- ion easie (Ho ho e al., 2012; Si mon & Hi , 2003; Zah a & Geo ge, 2002). A p onounced amiliness based on amily-speci ic decision p emises should he e o e posi i ely in luence bo h po en ial and eal- ized AC. We he e o e p opose he ollowing hypo heses: Hypo hesis 1: An inc ease in amiliness is posi- i ely ela ed o (a) po en ial and (b) ealized AC. 3.2 The ela ionship be ween co po a e social esponsibili y and abso p i e capaci y Co po a e social esponsibili y can ha e di e en e ec s, which a e e lec ed bo h in he di e en o i- en a ions (cus ome , communi y, employees) (Block & Wagne , 2014; El Ak emi e  al., 2018; Fa ooq e al., 2017) and in he di e en objec i es o which CSR can be used as a s a egic managemen ool. Fo example, communica ing CSR can imp o e he isibili y o he company in he communi y and o po en ial cus ome s (Vallas e e al., 2012). The am- ily business in es s in and sends (cos ly) signals in he o m o CSR measu es, e.g., o unde line i s alue o ien a ion and hus o be a us wo hy pa ne . Thus, i can inc ease us wo hiness o he company in he eyes o ex e nal s akeholde s, such as cus ome s and supplie s (Luo & Du, 2015). Consequen ly, ex e nal s akeholde s could be mo e willing o ne wo k and exchange in o ma ion wi h companies ha conduc CSR measu es (Luo & Du, 2015). This exchange o in o ma ion is an impo an sou ce o po en ial AC. In e nal, employee-o ien ed CSR ac i i ies in pa - icula lead o a s ong bond be ween employees and he company, esul ing in lowe employee u no e , inc eased e en ion o knowledge in he company, and ecip ocal beha io (Luo & Du, 2015; Sacconi, 2006) esul in dynamic capabili ies and especially ealized AC. 3.2.1 Employee-o ien ed co po a e social esponsibili y ac i i y andabso p i e capaci y Employees connec he company wi h ex e nal s ake- holde s, especially when hey wo k in sales (Cepeda- Ca ion e al., 2012; Ho ho e al., 2012). Employees a e needed o open up he company, iden i y ele an knowledge, collec in o ma ion, and es ablish and main ain ne wo ks and con ac s. New knowledge can also be iden i ied h ough con inuous knowledge building and a co esponding human and social capi- al s uc u e in he amily i m (Pennings e al., 1998). Such s uc u es a e p omo ed and expanded due o he long- e m o ien a ion o amily i ms, as well as h ough employee-o ien ed CSR ac i i ies (Cab e a- Suá ez e al., 2001; Del Giudice e al., 2011; Tu ke , 2009). 1456 Openness o knowledge: does co po a e social esponsibili y media e he ela ionship be ween… 1 3 Vol.: (0123456789) 4.2.4 Con ol a iables To ule ou al e na i e explana ions and o es he s a ed hypo heses, he p esen s udy included a se o con ol a iables which may a ec ou depend- en , independen , and media o a iables: These a e indus y sec o (manu ac u ing ( e .), cons uc ion, ade se ices, c a s, o he ), i m’s size (numbe o employees), i m’s age (yea s), pas inno a ion ou pu (i.e., i he company had in oduced new o signi i- can ly imp o ed p oduc s o he ma ke (i.e., p oduc inno a ions) and/o has implemen ed p ocess inno a- ions in he pas 3yea s), en u e pe o mance, gen- e a ion ( i s gene a ion i m ( e .), second gene a ion i m, hi d and mo e gene a ion i m) and a dummy a iable o owne ship (wi h 0 meaning ha he sha e o equi y capi al owned by he amily is less han 50% and 1 meaning 50% and mo e). Please no e ha we included wo a iables o measu e cu en and pas pe o mance: Fi s , we measu ed cu en en u e pe - o mance by asking he esponden s o assess he cu - en business si ua ion o he company based on he ollowing cha ac e is ics: sales, p o i , cash lows on a scale om “ e y bad = 1” o “ e y good = 5.” Based on he answe s, we gene a ed a a iable cap u ing hese pe o mance dimensions in one a iable. Sec- ond, we added employmen g ow h in he las h ee yea s (numbe o employees a he in e iew ime poin di ided by numbe o employees h ee yea s be o e) o con ol o he e ec o pas pe o mance. Mo eo e , we added wo con ol a iables cap u ing he e ec o coope a ion wi h uni e si ies and o he i ms wi h espec o inno a ion p ojec as p oxies o inno a ion ac i i ies and wo con ols e lec he educa ion and aining le els o employees. He e, we expec ha hose companies ha a e no able o ill hei acancies o specialis s because he applican s had no sui able aining o he applican s had oo li - le ele an wo k expe ience a e hose companies ha ely on high le els o expe ience and aining o hei s a . Based on p io li e a u e, we also expec o - maliza ion and bu eauc a iza ion o a ec he compa- ny’s abili y o coo dina e. Based on hese conside a- ions, we added he a iables bu eauc a iza ion ( wo i ems) and c oss- unc ional in e aces in decision- making (one i em) on he o ganiza ional le el, which he esponden s a e asked o assess on a scale om “ag ee less = 1” o “ag ee ully = 5.” Speci ically, he a iables hie a chy (“This company is s ongly hie a chically o ganized”), egula ions (“This com- pany has bu eauc a ic s uc u es wi h ex ensi e o - mal egula ions”), and pa icipa ion (“In his com- pany, he employees a e ully in ol ed in decisions”) a e included. Since i can be assumed ha “wo k o ce de elopmen ” can ha e an in luence on AC, we also included his con ol a iable in he analysis o he obus ness check ( o de ails, see AppendixTable6). Please no e ha we do no include his i em in he base models as he amily-employee bond subscale al eady con ains his measu e, which we emo ed o es o endogenei y issues. 5 Resul s Table 1 and Appendix Table 5 show he desc ip i e s a is ics o he a iables used in he empi ical analysis and he co ela ion ma ix, espec i ely. The espond- ing amily i ms a e on a e age 54.4yea s old and ha e hi ed a ound 70 employees. In addi ion, a majo i y o he i ms a e s ill in hei i s (i.e., ounding) gene a- ion (36%) and es ablished in he se ice sec o (32%). Mo eo e , we conduc ed a Ha man’s one- ac o analy- sis and calcula ed loading o all a iables used in he eg ession analysis. In ou s udy, six ac o s eme ged wi h eigen alue g ea e han 1, explaining 64% o a i- ance wi h he la ges ac o accoun ing o 23%, which is less han he sugges ed 50% h eshold. VIF suppo s he ejec ion o collinea i y issues among he a iables. In ac , VIF ange om 1.03 o 2.71, well below he h eshold (3) accep ed in he li - e a u e (Hai e al., 1998). The eg ession esul s a e desc ibed in Table2. Fo each o he wo measu es o AC (i.e., po en ial and ealized AC) and o each o ou h ee measu es o CSR (i.e., employee-o ien ed CSR, cus ome -o ien ed CSR, and communi y-o ien ed CSR), we used OLS eg ession models wi h obus s anda d e o s as he p incipal me hod o es ou hypo heses. We ind ha he e ec o amiliness is sig- ni ican on bo h measu es o AC (model 1: β = 0.1852; p- alue = 0.000, model 2: β = 0.1566; p- alue = 0.000). This seems o suppo —a he i s sigh —H1a and H1b. Mo eo e , hese ze o-o de e ec s o ou inde- penden a iable on he dependen a iables can be conside ed as a i s indica ion ha he e is an “e ec o be media ed” (Collins e al., 1998; Judd & Kenny, 1981; Kenny e al., 1998; P eache & Hayes, 2004). In models 5–7, we un eg essions on he h ee measu es 1463 L. Pü z e al. 1 3 Vol:. (1234567890) Table 1 Co ela ion ma ix Va iables (1) 2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) Po en ial AC 1.00 Realized AC 0.66 1.00 Familiness 0.29 0.29 1.00 Employee CSR 0.34 0.40 0.34 1.00 Cus ome CSR 0.43 0.50 0.30 0.34 1.00 Communi y CSR 0.27 0.25 0.29 0.88 0.25 1.00 Fi m’s size 0.20 0.11 0.07 0.18 0.14 0.16 1.00 Manu ac u ing − 0.02 0.05 0.02 0.09 0.15 0.07 0.10 1.00 Cons uc ion − 0.05 − 0.07 0.03 0.01 − 0.11 − 0.00 0.15 − 0.22 1.00 T ade 0.06 0.07 0.04 − 0.02 0.05 − 0.05 − 0.12 − 0.21 − 0.15 1.00 Se ices 0.13 0.05 − 0.03 0.05 0.01 0.08 − 0.02 − 0.39 − 0.27 − 0.26 1.00 C a s − 0.06 − 0.13 − 0.02 − 0.07 − 0.02 − 0.06 − 0.13 − 0.21 − 0.14 − 0.14 − 0.25 1.00 O he − 0.14 − 0.01 − 0.05 − 0.15 − 0.18 − 0.13 − 0.02 − 0.14 − 0.10 − 0.10 − 0.18 − 0.09 1.00 Fi m’s age 0.02 0.05 0.16 0.04 0.05 0.03 0.32 0.16 0.16 0.06 − 0.27 − 0.02 − 0.05 1.00 Inno a ion 0.27 0.30 0.12 0.29 0.27 0.28 0.18 0.19 − 0.20 − 0.01 0.00 − 0.04 0.00 0.10 1.00 Pe o mance 0.27 0.29 0.21 0.21 0.09 0.18 0.17 0.02 0.16 − 0.12 − 0.02 − 0.01 − 0.03 0.07 0.12 1s Gene a ion − 0.00 0.03 − 0.15 − 0.04 − 0.04 − 0.05 − 0.23 − 0.14 − 0.12 − 0.02 0.25 − 0.06 0.05 − 0.53 − 0.03 2nd Gene a ion − 0.00 − 0.02 − 0.02 0.01 0.07 0.02 − 0.02 0.03 − 0.03 − 0.10 − 0.01 0.11 − 0.02 − 0.09 0.02 3 d + Gen 0.01 − 0.02 0.18 0.04 − 0.03 0.03 0.25 0.11 0.16 0.12 − 0.25 − 0.06 − 0.03 0.66 0.01 Owne ship 0.11 0.08 0.15 − 0.03 0.07 − 0.03 0.02 − 0.02 0.06 − 0.01 0.08 − 0.08 − 0.06 0.07 0.02 Uni . coop 0.13 0.23 0.04 0.17 0.19 0.15 0.34 0.15 − 0.00 − 0.10 − 0.04 − 0.03 − 0.02 0.15 0.20 Fi m coop 0.22 0.27 0.14 0.26 0.29 0.22 0.18 0.11 − 0.09 0.01 0.05 − 0.10 − 0.04 0.08 0.38 T aining 0.08 0.03 0.03 0.06 0.06 − 0.02 0.04 − 0.10 0.01 − 0.11 0.15 0.07 − 0.09 − 0.08 0.03 Educa ion 0.05 0.02 0.09 0.05 − 0.00 0.02 − 0.02 − 0.09 − 0.03 − 0.04 0.15 0.04 − 0.06 − 0.06 0.04 Employmen g − 0.02 0.06 0.06 0.00 0.11 − 0.01 − 0.00 0.03 0.08 − 0.04 − 0.05 − 0.05 0.05 0.00 0.06 Hie a chy − 0.06 − 0.10 0.09 − 0.10 − 0.07 − 0.06 − 0.05 − 0.01 0.13 − 0.04 − 0.09 0.08 − 0.05 0.05 − 0.10 Regula ions 0.01 0.03 0.03 0.12 0.01 0.07 − 0.09 − 0.06 0.06 0.07 0.02 − 0.02 − 0.08 − 0.03 − 0.09 Pa icipa ion 0.25 0.39 0.17 0.24 0.18 0.17 0.11 0.05 − 0.02 − 0.01 0.02 − 0.09 0.04 0.03 0.23 Wo k o ce de 0.28 0.35 0.26 0.26 0.24 0.17 0.10 − 0.01 0.06 − 0.06 0.08 − 0.04 − 0.10 0.02 0.11 1464 Openness o knowledge: does co po a e social esponsibili y media e he ela ionship be ween… 1 3 Vol.: (0123456789) Table 1 (con inued) Va iables (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) (29) Po en ial AC Realized AC Familiness Employee CSR Cus ome CSR Communi y CSR Fi m’s size Manu ac u ing Cons uc ion T ade Se ices C a s O he Fi m’s age Inno a ion Pe o mance 1.00 1s Gene a ion − 0.03 1.00 2nd Gene a ion 0.01 − 0.54 1.00 3 d + Gen 0.03 − 0.49 − 0.47 1.00 Owne ship 0.04 − 0.08 0.02 0.06 1.00 Uni . coop 0.11 − 0.08 − 0.07 0.16 0.00 1.00 Fi m coop 0.07 − 0.03 − 0.01 0.04 0.11 0.39 1.00 T aining − 0.00 − 0.04 0.10 − 0.06 − 0.05 − 0.07 0.07 1.00 Educa ion 0.00 − 0.08 0.12 − 0.05 0.02 − 0.07 0.07 0.64 1.00 Employmen g * − 0.03 − 0.00 0.01 − 0.01 − 0.05 − 0.02 0.12 0.11 0.07 1.00 Hie a chy − 0.08 − 0.04 − 0.00 0.05 0.07 − 0.07 − 0.06 − 0.02 − 0.02 − 0.07 1.00 Regula ions 0.03 0.02 0.03 − 0.05 − 0.08 − 0.05 0.04 0.01 0.00 − 0.05 0.21 1.00 Pa icipa ion 0.17 0.01 − 0.05 0.05 0.06 0.14 0.18 0.03 0.02 0.07 − 0.23 0.11 1.00 Wo k o ce de *0.26 0.03 0.01 − 0.04 0.11 0.10 0.15 0.05 0.09 0.05 − 0.01 − 0.01 0.15 1.00 I alics = p < 0.05 * Employmen g ow h, Wo k o ce de elopmen 1465 L. Pü z e al. 1 3 Vol:. (1234567890) o CSR—ou media o a iables. In de ail, he esul s p o ide empi ical e idence ha amiliness is posi- i e and signi ican on all h ee CSR measu es (model 5: β = 0.3442; p- alue = 0.000, model 6: β = 0.1885; p- alue = 0.000, model 7: β = 0.3957; p- alue = 0.000). Thus, we can con i m he esul s documen ed in S ock Table 2 Reg ession esul s Robus s anda d e o s a e in pa en hesis; 1 e e ence: manu ac u ing; 2 e e ence: 1s ( ounde ) gene a ion. Fo simplici y, we excluded he display o indus y dummies *** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05, *p < 0.1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Po en ial AC Realized AC Po en ial AC Realized AC Employee CSR Cus ome CSR Communi y CSR Po en ial AC Realized AC Independen a iable: Familiness 0.1852*** (0.0526) 0.1566*** (0.0467) 0.3482*** (0.0725) 0.1885*** (0.0388) 0.3957*** (0.0904) 0.0908* (0.0520) 0.0328 (0.0431) Media o a iables: Employee CSR 0.1396 (0.0848) 0.1276*** (0.0387) 0.1216 (0.0862) 0.1205*** (0.0395) Cus ome CSR 0.3854*** (0.0659) 0.4446*** (0.0599) 0.3570*** (0.0686) 0.4344*** (0.0622) Communi y CSR − 0.0370 (0.0597) − 0.0385 (0.0602) Con ols: Fi m’s size 0.0008** (0.0003) − 0.0002 (0.0003) 0.0006* (0.0003) − 0.0004* (0.0002) 0.0007 (0.0004) 0.0004* (0.0002) 0.0009 (0.0007) 0.0007* (0.0003) − 0.0004* (0.0002) Fi m’s age − 0.0006 (0.0009) 0.0012 (0.0009) − 0.0006 (0.0009) 0.0012 (0.0008) − 0.0014 (0.0014) 0.0003 (0.0007) − 0.0024 (0.0020) − 0.0006 (0.0009) 0.0012 (0.0008) Inno a ion 0.1735** (0.0690) 0.1419** (0.0624) 0.1144* (0.0647) 0.0625 (0.0559) 0.2792*** (0.0881) 0.1025* (0.0561) 0.3870*** (0.1161) 0.1179* (0.0644) 0.0637 (0.0559) Pe o mance 0.1304*** (0.0393) 0.1425*** (0.0341) 0.1362*** (0.0376) 0.1387*** (0.0307) 0.0754 (0.0505) − 0.0031 (0.0328) 0.0791 (0.0674) 0.1253*** (0.0380) 0.1348*** (0.0308) 2nd Gene a ion2 − 0.0096 (0.0681) − 0.0511 (0.0648) − 0.0108 (0.0642) − 0.0605 (0.0607) 0.0237 (0.0936) 0.0193 (0.0565) 0.0902 (0.1263) − 0.0159 (0.0638) − 0.0624 (0.0602) 3 d + Gene a ion2 − 0.0512 (0.0913) − 0.1929** (0.0843) 0.0200 (0.0915) − 0.1302 (0.0839) 0.0173 (0.1407) − 0.1305 (0.0833) 0.1128 (0.1855) − 0.0023 (0.0901) − 0.1383* (0.0819) Owne ship 0.0915 (0.1046) 0.0504 (0.1042) 0.1135 (0.0918) 0.0683 (0.0936) − 0.2354** (0.1135) 0.0412 (0.1029) − 0.3239* (0.1750) 0.0929 (0.0950) 0.0609 (0.0948) Uni e si y coop- e a ion 0.0422 (0.1167) 0.3088*** (0.0987) − 0.0308 (0.1174) 0.2312*** (0.0888) 0.0998 (0.1600) 0.1401* (0.0754) 0.0581 (0.2468) − 0.0177 (0.1133) 0.2359*** (0.0880) Fi m coope a ion 0.0792 (0.0705) 0.0710 (0.0674) 0.0234 (0.0710) − 0.0039 (0.0646) 0.1811* (0.1039) 0.1240** (0.0545) 0.2181 (0.1494) 0.0213 (0.0699) − 0.0047 (0.0644) T aining 0.1068 (0.0987) 0.0721 (0.0859) 0.0462 (0.0952) 0.0171 (0.0774) 0.0405 (0.1166) 0.1079 (0.0813) − 0.2129 (0.1645) 0.0552 (0.0933) 0.0204 (0.0773) Educa ion − 0.0584 (0.0888) − 0.0376 (0.0787) 0.0048 (0.0850) 0.0233 (0.0715) − 0.0253 (0.1156) − 0.1200 (0.0804) 0.0360 (0.1675) − 0.0111 (0.0845) 0.0176 (0.0723) Employmen g ow h − 0.0102 (0.0092) 0.0055 (0.0122) − 0.0133 (0.0099) 0.0010 (0.0112) − 0.0154 (0.0100) 0.0156*** (0.0060) − 0.0186 (0.0207) − 0.0146* (0.0088) 0.0006 (0.0107) Hie a chy 0.0145 (0.0694) 0.0105 (0.0623) 0.0633 (0.0658) 0.0546 (0.0563) − 0.1560* (0.0915) − 0.0421 (0.0535) − 0.1186 (0.1204) 0.0440 (0.0652) 0.0476 (0.0563) Regula ions − 0.0268 (0.1009) − 0.0143 (0.0930) − 0.0681 (0.0930) − 0.0613 (0.0820) 0.2849*** (0.1075) 0.0231 (0.0697) 0.2277 (0.1538) − 0.0609 (0.0955) − 0.0587 (0.0821) Pa icipa ion 0.1565** (0.0606) 0.2906*** (0.0557) 0.1359** (0.0582) 0.2576*** (0.0498) 0.1212 (0.0817) 0.0498 (0.0468) 0.0739 (0.1077) 0.1268** (0.0587) 0.2543*** (0.0501) _cons 2.1167*** (0.2414) 2.2955*** (0.2552) 0.7271** (0.3222) 0.5304* (0.3130) 1.7429*** (0.3377) 3.6593*** (0.2416) 0.8353** (0.4047) 0.6307* (0.3311) 0.4960 (0.3160) Obs 327 327 327 327 327 327 327 327 327 R-squa ed 0.2681 0.3334 0.3344 0.4574 0.2852 0.2554 0.2186 0.3416 0.4584 1466 Openness o knowledge: does co po a e social esponsibili y media e he ela ionship be ween… 1 3 Vol.: (0123456789) e al. (2020) who based hei empi ical analysis on da a o p i a ely held companies loca ed in No h Rhine- Wes phalia collec ed be ween No embe 2017 and Feb ua y 2018 wi h ou da a se and analysis. In model 3, we ind ha cus ome -o ien a ed CSR (β = 0.3854; p- alue = 0.000) signi ican ly posi i ely e ec s po en- ial AC, hus con i ming H3a, while communi y CSR (β = − 0.037; p- alue = 0.535) and employee-o ien- a ed CSR (β = 0.1396; p- alue = 0.101) has no signi - ican impac on po en ial AC, hus ejec ing H2a and H4. In model 4, we ind ha employee-o ien a ed CSR (β = 0.1276; p- alue = 0.001) and cus ome -o ien a ed CSR (β = 0.4446; p- alue = 0.000) signi ican ly posi- i ely e ec s ealized AC, hus con i ming H2b and H3b. Following he ou -s ep p ocedu e o assess he po en ial media ion by hese h ee CSR sub-dimen- sions (Ba on & Kenny, 1986; MacKinnon e al., 2007), he esul s om model 8 illus a e ha cus ome -o ien- a ed CSR pa ially media es he ela ionship be ween amiliness and po en ial AC: Fi s , as men ioned abo e, a signi ican ela ionship be ween amiliness and cus- ome -o ien a ed CSR is e iden om he esul s in model 6. Second, he esul s o model 1 show a sig- ni ican ela ionship be ween amiliness and po en ial AC. Thi d, a signi ican ela ionship exis s be ween cus ome -o ien a ed CSR and po en ial AC while con- olling o amiliness as shown in he esul s o model 8 (β = 0. 3570; p- alue = 0.000) which suppo s H6a. Fou h, he amiliness coe icien in model 8 is signi i- can (β = 0.0908; p- alue = 0.082), indica ing a pa ial media ion. This also esul leads us o ul ima ely con- i m H1a. Rega ding he media ion e ec s, he esul s om he boo s ap es (MacKinnon e al., 2002) show ha he media ion e ec is signi ican ly di e en om ze o (Table3). The s a is ical signi icance was es ed wi h 5000 boo s ap samples on a 95% bias-co ec ed con idence in e al le el. A media ion e ec is clas- si ied as signi ican in he boo s ap es i ze o is no wi hin he espec i e ange o he boo s apping con i- dence in e als. The boo s ap es ima ion esul s gi en in Table3 show ha cus ome -o ien a ed CSR medi- a es he ela ionship be ween amiliness and po en- ial AC as ze o is no wi hin he espec i e ange o he boo s apping con idence in e als (LL = 0.033; UL = 0.103), which u he suppo s hypo hesis H6a. Howe e , we ind no empi ical suppo ha commu- ni y- and employee-o ien a ed CSR media es he ela- ionship be ween amiliness and po en ial AC. As he esul s in model 8 show, bo h media o s a e no sig- ni ican while con olling o amiliness (β = − 0.0385; p- alue = 0.523, β = 0.1216; p- alue = 0.159). In line wi h hese esul s, he esul s om he boo s ap es also shows ha ze o is wi hin he espec i e ange o he boo s apping con idence in e al in bo h cases, hus ejec ing hypo heses H5a and H7. The esul s om model 9 illus a e ha employee- o ien a ed CSR and cus ome -o ien a ed CSR ully media e he ela ionship be ween amiliness and ealized AC. Fi s , again, a signi ican ela ionship be ween amiliness and employee-o ien a ed CSR and cus ome -o ien a ed CSR is e iden om he esul s in models 5 and 6. Second, he esul s o model 2 show a signi ican ela ionship be ween amiliness and ealized AC. Thi d, a signi ican ela ionship exis s be ween employee-o ien a ed and cus ome - o ien a ed CSR and ealized AC, while con olling o amiliness (model 9: β = 0.1205; p- alue = 0.002, β = 0.4344; p- alue = 0.000) suppo ing H5b and H6b. Fou h, he amiliness coe icien in model 9 is no signi ican anymo e (β = 0.0328; p- alue = 0.447), indica ing a ull media ion. This esul leads us o ejec H1b, ul ima ely. Mo eo e , esul s om he boo s ap es in Table3 show ha all media ion coe - icien s a e all signi ican ly di e en om ze o— s eng hening he empi ical suppo o H5b and H6b. To check he obus ness o he esul s, we con- duc ed se e al es s: Fi s , o ule ou i endogenei y is an issue, we es ed i he main esul s s ay obus i we exclude he amiliness subscale “ amily-employee bond.” Indeed, i can be a gued ha he “ amily- employee bond” subscale and “employee-o ien ed CSR” subscale may measu e he same hing. Empi i- cally, we i s checked i bo h subse s co ela e e y s ongly. Hence, we es ima ed Pea son’s co ela ion coe icien equal o 0.4048, which indica es a a he mode a e co ela ion. Second, we an all eg ession models excluding he “ amily-employee bond” sub- scale om he amily scale. The esul s emained mos ly obus ( o de ails see Appendix Table 6). Howe e , we did no ind p oo anymo e o a di ec ela ionship be ween amiliness and po en ial AC so ha we conclude ha H1a is ul ima ely only pa ly con i med. Also, and based on ou heo e ical a gu- men s, we a e con iden ha he sub-dimension “ amily-employee bond” e lec s a speci ic decision p emise, which causes speci ic CSR ac i i ies (he e: employee-o ien a ed CSR ac i i ies). 1467 L. Pü z e al. 1 3 Vol:. (1234567890) Table 4 p o ides an o e iew o he hypo heses and hei empi ical suppo . 6 Theo e ical andp ac ical implica ions In a “knowledge-based economy” (Melnikas, 2010), ac o s in luencing he exchange and ans e o knowledge a e becoming inc easingly impo an o de eloping dynamic capabili y and compe i i eness (Teece, 2010). In his con ex , ou s udy p o ides some in e es ing indings by concen a ing on he an eceden s o AC in he amily business con ex . Fo po en ial AC, we ind ha he in luence o he amily ia amiliness on po en ial AC is media ed by he am- ily i m’s cus ome -o ien a ed CSR ac ions. Al hough hypo hesized, we do no ind any media ion e ec wi h ega d o employee- and communi y-o ien a ed CSR on po en ial AC. Fo ealized AC, ou esul s show a media ion e ec o cus ome - and employee- o ien ed CSR. Al hough hypo hesized, we did no ind a di ec e ec o ealized AC and ou empi ical esul s indica e ha he di ec e ec o amiliness on po en ial AC is only pa ially con i med. These ind- ings may be explained by he ac ha amily busi- nesses bene i s ongly om hei gene al posi i e image among cus ome s and employees. This image emana es om a amily business and is exp essed h ough a high le el o amiliness (Zellwege e al., 2012). Th ough CSR, his amiliness can be ac i ely signaled and e ec cus ome s in pa icula (Zhang e al., 2020). As employee- and communi y-o ien ed CSR do no show he expec ed media ion e ec s, we assume ha especially o po en ial AC hese CSR measu es a e no speci ic enough and oo uzzy o sig- nal he amily-speci ic cha ac e is ics. The e o e, we assume ha his inding can be a ibu ed o he ac ha hese wo amily-induced CSR measu es a e he key link ully ansla ing and signaling amily expec a- ions ia decision p emises o he s akeholde s. CSR ac i i ies, which unde line he posi i e and alue o i- en ed o ien a ion o amily i ms, signal us wo hi- ness and allow s akeholde s o ecei e and unde s and he decision p emises o he amily based on amili- ness. Consequen ly, we emphasize ha in es men s especially in cus ome -o ien ed CSR, bu also pa ly in employee-o ien ed CSR posi i ely a ec s AC, espe- cially in amily businesses, h ough he ac i a ion and use o amily business-speci ic esou ces. Ou esul s also suppo he assump ion ha CSR ac i i ies in amily businesses a e also economi- cally wo hwhile (Campopiano & De Massis, 2015). Abso p i e capaci y is an impo an dynamic capa- bili y o inno a ion (Lich en hale & Lich en hale , 2009). Th ough i s ex e nal and in e nal o ien a ion, CSR c ea es us wo hiness and he oppo uni y o signal and u ilize he unique esou ces o amily busi- nesses (Ze bini, 2017) and ollowing make amily i ms mo e a ac i e o example o collabo a i e inno a ion p ojec s. Ou s udy con ibu es o he li e a u e on amili- ness in amily businesses (Habbe shon & Williams, 1999). Family businesses a e he e ogeneous, so a me e dis inc ion be ween amily businesses and non amily businesses is insu icien o s udy amily businesses (Chua e al., 2012; Ma ques e al., 2014). Ra he , he he e ogenei y mus be be e unde s ood, which can be achie ed h ough deepe insigh s in o he concep o amiliness (Ande sén, 2015; Ko la e al., 2020). Mo e- o e , he e a e only a ew s udies ha ha e empi ically examined he e ec o amiliness (measu ed wi h he FIFS scale) on amily i m ou comes (Weismeie -Sam- me e al., 2013). Ou esul s indica e ha he unique esou ces o he amily can be le e aged in he con ex Table 3 Boo s ap es ima ion o media ion e ec s Po en ial abso p i e capaci y E ec Boo s ap SE Lowe -le el boo s ap CI Uppe -le el boo s ap CI CSR_Employee .042 .032 − .016 .110 CSR_Cus ome .067 .018 .033 .103 CSR_Communi y − .015 .025 − .068 .033 To al indi ec .116 .027 .063 .170 Realized abso p i e capaci y E ec Boo s ap SE Lowe -le el boo s ap CI Uppe -le el boo s ap CI CSR_Employee .042 .017 .014 .081 CSR_Cus ome .082 .020 .043 .124 To al indi ec .124 .028 .072 .181 1468 Openness o knowledge: does co po a e social esponsibili y media e he ela ionship be ween… 1 3 Vol.: (0123456789) o AC i CSR measu es a e execu ed. We he e o e assume ha CSR is an ins umen ha con eys ha - mony wi h he cul u e and he alues o he amily business (Ma ques e al., 2014), he eby inc easing he us wo hiness needed o gene a e compe i i e ad an- ages, o example, h ough AC. Ou analysis also shows ha he ela ionship be ween amiliness and po en ial AC is media ed by cus ome -o ien ed CSR. Wi h ega d o ealized AC, we show ha cus ome - and employee-o ien ed CSR a e signi ican media o s. Thus, ou analysis can also make se e al impo an con ibu ions o he AC li - e a u e. We show ha i is impo an o di e en ia e be ween po en ial and ealized AC. Mo eo e , in a dynamic en i onmen , AC is an impo an dynamic capabili y and a basis o companies o ac ambidex- ously (Ro hae mel & Alexand e, 2009). Resea che s ha e iden i ied nume ous ac o s ha can in luence AC. A concep ual pape by Ko la e al. (2020) has shown ha owne ship and emo ional conce ns can in luence AC and dis inguish be ween he capabili y and will- ingness o abso b ex e nal knowledge. Wi h his s udy, we con ibu e o he discussions on capabili y, as well as o hose on he abili y and willingness pa adox in amily i ms (e.g., Ch isman e  al., 2015; Debellis e al., 2020). The capabili y o u ilize and signal amily esou ces by unde aking CSR ac i i ies con ibu es o a i m’s capabili y. Co po a e social esponsibili y can signal us wo hiness and openness o he exchange o knowledge and c ea es an en i onmen ha co e s bo h po en ial and ealized AC (Ma ínez & Rod íguez del Bosque, 2013). This enables amily businesses o be open o he en i onmen and ac i ely manage his openness while main aining con ol. Ou indings ex end he cu en li e a u e on CSR in amily businesses. Co po a e social esponsibili y is o en conside ed p ima ily because o i s social, e hi- cal, o en i onmen al dimensions (Falle & zu Kny- phausen-Au seß, 2018; Van Gils e al., 2014; Vazquez, 2018). We add o he eme ging body o li e a u e ha explo es how CSR in speci ic con ex s (i.e., am- ily businesses) can also gene a e economic bene i s as i incen i izes cus ome s and employees o sha e and p o ide aluable knowledge esou ces (Bing- ham e al., 2011; Can ell e al., 2015; Fa ooq e al., 2014). Mo eo e , we also show ha CSR ac i i ies a e no always bene icial. While communi y-o ien ed CSR has no impac on AC, CSR ac i i ies di ec ed a cus ome s and employees a e bene icial o he i m’s knowledge base. The li e a u e on amily businesses and he amiliness scale emphasizes he impo ance o he embeddedness and local engagemen o amily businesses (Basco, 2015; F ank e al., 2017; Habbe - shon e al., 2003; Pea son e al., 2008). Howe e , we canno p o e any e ec , a leas conce ning AC. Ne - e heless, i could be ha communi y-o ien ed CSR has an indi ec e ec since engagemen in he commu- ni y would also indi ec ly a ec cus ome s o employ- ees. In addi ion, CSR ac i i ies in he communi y can posi i ely a ec he cong uence o he alues o amily businesses. We assume ha alue cong uence has ano he e ec . In his s udy, we a gue he signal- ing e ec o CSR measu es. T us wo hy signals a e sen i hey a e measu es ha a e in eg a ed in o he co po a e s a egy, a e hus implemen ed in he long e m, and also se e he pu pose o he company (Pan- wa e al., 2014). The co po a e s a egy is o en also linked o he amily s a egy (Williams e al., 2018). I Table 4 Resul s o he hypo heses es ing H1a: An inc ease in amiliness is posi i ely ela ed o po en ial AC (✓) H1b An inc ease in amiliness is posi i ely ela ed o ealized AC ✖ H2a: An inc ease in employee-o ien ed CSR ac i i ies is posi i ely ela ed o po en ial AC ✖ H2b: An inc ease in employee-o ien ed CSR ac i i ies is posi i ely ela ed o ealized AC ✓ H3a: An inc ease in cus ome -o ien ed CSR ac i i ies is posi i ely ela ed o po en ial AC ✓ H3b: An inc ease in cus ome -o ien ed CSR ac i i ies is posi i ely ela ed o ealized AC ✓ H4: An inc ease in communi y-o ien ed CSR ac i i ies is posi i ely ela ed o po en ial AC ✖ H5a: Employee-o ien ed CSR ac i i ies posi i ely media e he ela ionship be ween amiliness and po en ial AC ✖ H5b: Employee-o ien ed CSR ac i i ies posi i ely media e he ela ionship be ween amiliness and ealized AC ✓ H6a: Cus ome -o ien ed CSR ac i i ies posi i ely media e he ela ionship be ween amiliness and po en ial AC ✓ H6b: Cus ome -o ien ed CSR ac i i ies posi i ely media e he ela ionship be ween amiliness and ealized AC ✓ H7: Communi y-o ien ed CSR ac i i ies posi i ely media e he ela ionship be ween amiliness and po en ial AC ✖ 1469 L. Pü z e al. 1 3 Vol:. (1234567890) hese measu es ail, o i pa ne s in e p e hese meas- u es as g eenwashing, his would ha e a s ong nega- i e impac on he amily i m and he amily mem- be s. In pa icula , in amily businesses, in which he name o he business and he amily a e he same, he de ec ion o g eenwashing nega i ely a ec s he busi- ness and epu a ion o he amily (As achan e  al., 2018). In o he wo ds, he loss o image and epu a- ion, pa icula ly in he case o amily-owned SMEs, inc eases he p essu e no o be suspec ed o g een- washing, as he e would be a lack o esou ces o com- pensa e o his loss o image (As achan e al., 2018; Du, 2015; Kim e al., 2017). Finally, ou s udy also has impo an p ac ical implica ions. Ou esul s show ha in es men s in CSR measu es can be wo hwhile o amily busi- nesses, o example, o p omo e he AC o ex e nal knowledge. This o e s a new pe spec i e on CSR as a s a egic managemen ool o amily i ms. Co po- a e social esponsibili y is no only a measu e o e hi- cal and sus ainable beha io , bu also ui ul o he company’s business ac i i ies. I CSR is unde aken because i co esponds o he alues and economic and non-economic goals o he amily business, he use o speci ic esou ces ollowing business and am- ily objec i es can c ea e bene i . 7 Limi a ions and u u e esea ch O cou se, his s udy is no wi hou i s limi a ions. The s udy is based on c oss-sec ional da a collec ed in Ge many a a single poin in ime. Ou esul s he e- o e only ep esen a snapsho and a e no necessa ily ans e able o o he con ex s. No cause-and-e ec ela- ionships can ul ima ely be de e mined. Tha is, e en hough we a e con iden ha a media ion analysis is he app op ia e model o es ou esea ch ques ion, we a e awa e ha , om an empi ical iewpoin , we ha e o e e o his model as a causal model in a highly es ic ed sense. Fo example, we do no use panel da a no do we andomize pa icipan s o g oups. We also did no ha e any expe imen e con ol o e expo- su e o he independen a iables. Thus, many al e na- i e explana ions could p obably be o e ed wi h he empi ical model we p opose (including e e se causal- i y) p obably ge ing equally good esul s using s ic ly s a is ical c i e ia. Howe e , we belie e ha his is a p oblem coming wi h almos any s a is ical analysis. Consequen ly, his means ha he causal a gumen s mus be s ongly g ounded in a se o s ong heo e ical p edic ions. By d awing on signaling heo y o explain ou indings, we s ongly belie e ha his is he case. Mo eo e , he e may be some issues wi h ega d o he con ol a iables in ou eg ession models. Speci ically, we ha e o ake in o conside a ion ha we may ha e no been able o con ol su icien ly o in e nal R&D in es men s and he le el o he wo k o ce human capi al. E en hough we did include a se o measu es e lec ing inno a ion ac i i ies, pas inno a ion ou pu s and aining, bu we call o u u e esea ch o maybe include mo e sui able con ols a iables. The da a may also be suscep ible o bias due o low esponse o misclassi ica ion due o bias in ecalls. Please also no e ha we ha e no conside ed he com- ple e CSR cons uc o El Ak emi e al. (2018)—we ha e only included communi y, employee, and cus- ome -o ien ed CSR. We es ed he media ion e ec o hese h ee dimensions only o po en ial and ealized AC. O he dimensions o CSR could be conside ed ha we ha e no included o his s udy. Mo eo e , he h ee CSR dimensions we ocused on in ou s udy could be analyzed, o example, o all ou dimensions o AC (acquisi ion, assimila ion, ans o ma ion, and exploi a ion). Fu he mo e, we only had one espond- en pe company. In he employee dimension o CSR in pa icula , i would be in e es ing in u u e esea ch o analyze a second esponden om he wo k o ce. Mo eo e , we did no in es iga e whe he an in es - men in one CSR dimension in luences ano he CSR dimension, o example, whe he a amily business ha pays close a en ion o he amily-employee bond is mo e likely o in es in cus ome -o ien ed CSR. This could be ano he exci ing ield o esea ch and aises po en ial u he esea ch ques ions. Mo eo e , a compa ison be ween amily i ms and non amily i ms could p o ide u he insigh s in o he speci ic use o CSR measu es. Focusing on he cu en li ely discussion o he he e ogenei y o amily businesses, we ha e conside ed ou esea ch ques ion wi hin am- ily businesses, bu we ha e no compa ed hese wi h non amily businesses. Las bu no leas , we suppo he call o Ko la and colleagues (2020) ha i migh be wo hwhile o mo e deeply examine owne ship sha es, indi idual dimensions o amily li e, and how hese ac o s in luence AC. In summa y, ou s udy shows impo an an eceden s and mechanisms o he AC o ex e nal knowledge in amily businesses. 1470 Openness o knowledge: does co po a e social esponsibili y media e he ela ionship be ween… 1 3 Vol.: (0123456789) Table 5 Desc ip i e s a is ics and desc ip ions o a iables in models o abso p i e capaci y in amily i ms Va iable Desc ip ion Mean/ Pc SD Range C on- bach’s alpha Dependen a iables:  Po en ial AC Cons uc ed scale, 9 i ems, measu ed on a 5-poin Like scale (1 = does no apply a all o 5 = en i ely ue) 3.73 .56 2.1–4.9 .75  Realized AC Cons uc ed scale, 12 i ems, measu ed on a 5-poin Like scale (1 = does no apply a all o 5 = en i ely ue) 3.8 .54 2.1–4.9 .81 Independen a iable:  Familiness Cons uc ed scale, 20 i ems, measu ed on a 5-poin Like scale (1 = does no apply a all o 5 = en i ely ue) 4.1 .61 1.75–5 .89 Media o a iables  Employee CSR Cons uc ed scale, 7 i ems, measu ed on a 5-poin Like scale (1 = does no apply a all o 5 = en i ely ue) 3.44 .73 1.29–5 .82 Cus ome CSR Cons uc ed scale, 5 i ems, measu ed on a 5-poin Like scale (1 = does no apply a all o 5 = en i ely ue) 4.54 .43 2.6–5 .72 Communi y CSR Cons uc ed scale, 7 i ems, measu ed on a 5-poin Like scale (1 = does no apply a all o 5 = en i ely ue) 2.72 .96 1–5 .86 Con ols:  Fi m’s size How many employees a e cu en ly employed in you com- pany? (me ic) 70.02 89.88 1–500  Manu ac u ing ( e .) Which indus y does you company belong o? (1 = manu ac- u ing, 0 = else) .24 .43 0–1  Cons uc ion Which indus y does you company belong o? (1 = cons uc- ion, 0 = else) .13 .34 0–1  T ade Which indus y does you company belong o? (1 = ade, 0 = else) .13 .33 0–1  Se ices Which indus y does you company belong o? (1 = se ices, 0 = else) .32 .47 0–1  C a s Which indus y does you company belong o? (1 = c a s, 0 = else) .12 .32 0–1  O he Which indus y does you company belong o? (1 = o he , 0 = else) .06 .24 0–1  Fi m’s age How old is you company? (me ic) 54.41 39.04 4–219  Inno a ion Has you company in oduced new o signi ican ly imp o ed p oduc s o he ma ke (i.e., p oduc inno a ions) and/ o has implemen ed p ocess inno a ions in he las h ee yea s? (1 = yes, 0 = no) .65 .48 0–1  Pe o mance Please assess he cu en business si ua ion o you company based on he ollowing cha ac e is ics: sales, p o i , cash lows (Like scale: 1 = much wo se o 5 = much be e ), cons uc ed scale, 3 i ems 3.62 .76 1–5  1s gene a ion ( e .) How many gene a ions has you company been in amily own- e ship? (1 = 1s gene a ion, 0 = else) .36 .48 0–1  2nd gene a ion How many gene a ions has you company been in amily own- e ship? (1 = 2nd gene a ion, 0 = else) .34 .47 0–1 Appendix 1471 L. Pü z e al. 1 3 Vol:. (1234567890) Table 5 (con inued) Va iable Desc ip ion Mean/ Pc SD Range C on- bach’s alpha  3 d + gene a ion How many gene a ions has you company been in amily own- e ship? (1 = 3 d o mo e gene a ions, 0 = else) .3 .46 0–1  Owne ship Wha pe cen age o he equi y capi al is owned by he amily? (1 = 50% and mo e, 0 = less han 50%) .91 .28 0–1  Uni e si y coope a ion We e he in oduced p oduc and/ o p ocess inno a ions de el- oped in coope a ion wi h Uni e si ies? (1 = yes, 0 = no) .07 .26 0–1  Fi m coope a ion We e he in oduced p oduc and/o p ocess inno a ions de el- oped in coope a ion wi h o he companies? (1 = yes, 0 = no) .21 .41 0–1  T aining Has you company ied in ain in he las 6mon hs o ill acancies o specialis s and manage s because he applican s had no sui able aining? (1 = yes, 0 = no) .18 .39 0–1  Educa ion Has you company ied in ain in he las 6mon hs o ill acancies o specialis s and manage s because he applican s had oo li le ele an p o essional expe ience? (1 = yes, 0 = no) .19 .39 0–1  Employmen g ow h Employmen g ow h o he company in he las h ee yea s? Gene a ed me ic a iable (numbe o employees a he in e iew ime poin di ided by numbe o employees 3yea s be o e) 1.35 2.25 0–35  Hie a chy This company is s ongly hie a chically o ganized (1 = yes, 0 = no) .24 .42 0–1  Regula ions This company has bu eauc a ic s uc u es wi h ex ensi e o - mal egula ions (1 = yes, 0 = no) .09 .29 0–1  Pa icipa ion Employees a e ully in ol ed in decisions (1 = yes, 0 = no) .58 .49 0–1  Wo k o ce de elopmen In ou amily i m, we ake g ea ca e o ensu e he p omo ion and u he de elopmen o ou employees (1 = yes, 0 = no) .88 .33 0–1 1472 Openness o knowledge: does co po a e social esponsibili y media e he ela ionship be ween… 1 3 Vol.: (0123456789) 1097- 0266(200010/ 11) 21: 10/ 11% 3c110 5:: AID- SMJ133% 3e3.0. CO;2-E El Ak emi, A., Gond, J.-P., Swaen, V., De Roeck, K., & Iga- lens, J. (2018). How do employees pe cei e co po a e esponsibili y? De elopmen and alida ion o a mul i- dimensional co po a e s akeholde esponsibili y scale. 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