Phd in BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Thesis title: DRIVER DI SVILUPPO NELLE PICCOLE IMPRESE FAMILIARI: EVIDENZE DAL COMPARTO DEL FOOD SERVICE

Small Family Businesses (SFBs) represent a structural component of the Italian productive system, combining organizational features typical of small enterprises with family-based ownership and governance. Despite their economic and social relevance, SFBs remain underexplored in the academic literature, particularly regarding the strategic factors influencing their development paths in increasingly uncertain environments. This research aims to systematically investigate the development drivers of SFBs through a dual lens: theoretical and empirical. In the first part, a Structured Literature Review (SLR) identifies three recurring themes in international studies—innovation, sustainability, and internationalization—alongside the cross-cutting issue of generational transition. The review reveals that these dimensions, though often addressed separately, are deeply interconnected in real-world transformation processes. In the second part, a qualitative approach is adopted, using a framework inspired by the Triple Layered Business Model Canvas to analyze five case studies of SFBs operating in the food service distribution sector for the Ho.Re.Ca. channel. The findings show a predominant orientation toward incremental innovation aimed at operational efficiency, a low propensity for internationalization, and informal sustainability practices driven more by pragmatism than by formalized strategies. In all cases, the family dimension proves to be a key factor shaping decision-making structures, governance configurations, and adaptive capabilities. The heterogeneity observed in development models reflects the diversity of resources, organizational cultures, and local contexts in which these firms operate. The research highlights how, in SFBs, development drivers are selectively activated based on their compatibility with the company’s history, family culture, and operational structure, leading to specific and non-linear evolutionary trajectories grounded in a logic of adaptation.