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The purpose of this paper is to investigate entrepreneurs’ investment decisions under uncertainty in continued investments where the authors test the role of emotions to continue or discontinue the investment.

A conjoint analysis is carried out on 101 entrepreneurs’ 3,232 investment decisions. The entrepreneurs were provided with a scenario of an investment where the dependent variable was the entrepreneur's propensity to allocate further resources to the described investment. They assessed their willingness to allocate further resources to the investment on a seven-point Likert-type scale. The independent variables in the experiment were the experienced emotions of the entrepreneur each of which was described by the two levels of high and low.

It was found that self-confidence, challenge, and hope increase the propensity to continue investments as do increased level of uncertainty. Embarrassment and strain do not increase this propensity, however, high uncertainty decreases the propensity to continue investments. In contrast to the escalation of commitment theory, embarrassment does not make entrepreneurs more prone to invest under uncertainty. Frustration does not yield significant results, which runs contrary to the theory and the hypothesis finds no support.

The paper focussed on a limited number of emotions, and also on one specific moderating factor that impacts the effect of these emotions on the investment decision.

To understand the role of their emotions in investment decisions under different levels of uncertainty may help entrepreneurs to improve the quality of their decision making.

This study is an experiment where practitioner entrepreneurs participate which increases the ecological validity of the study. Emotions can explain, partly, why entrepreneurs persist with some underperforming projects, but not others. Uncertainty is a powerful moderating variable in the decision-making process. The results enhance existing knowledge about the emotive side of entrepreneurs’ propensity to make investment decisions under uncertainty. The results also supplement and refine existing theories on self-justification.

Despite recognition of the centrality of emotions in entrepreneurship, little attention has been given to role of emotions in the development of entrepreneurial identity or enactment of entrepreneurial role. The contribution of the chapter is in the development of a dynamic model of the process leading to identification or dis-identification as an entrepreneur. In this chapter, we develop a dynamic model of the process leading to identification or dis-identification as an entrepreneur. We theorize that the driver behind an individual’s decision to become an entrepreneur, and their significant emotional experiences in the entrepreneurial role, influence the likelihood of following an identification or dis-identification cycle. Specifically, our framework proposes that positive emotions strengthen approach motivation and identification with the role, while negative ones foster avoidance motivation and dis-identification. We argue that contextual embeddedness can prompt transition between these two cycles. Our theorization provides new insights into methods of analyzing the role of emotions in the entrepreneurial process, more specifically in the process of entrepreneurial identity crafting. These insights also can be translated into studying the crafting of any professional identity.

In this chapter, we address challenges and constraints to sharing negative emotionally-charged events in the family business context, and how this has an effect on ownership or manager identity. We examine the specific structural and social characteristics of family businesses that can undermine the benefits of socially sharing emotions. We provide illustrations of sharing emotions with external and internal partners of family businesses. We specifically point out the difficulty of sharing due to the deeply personal nature of the emotional events involved, the complexity of relationships, lack of trust, bullying, exclusion, and family expectations.

We conclude that women may be disadvantaged in different ways, such as being exposed to more emotionally challenging events than men, having a limited and crippled network of confidants within and outside the family business, and perceiving themselves as having signs of weakness. All these constraints hinder women from building a solid ownership or manager identity.

Our suggestions to family members and external partners alike are to work on continuous awareness and consciousness building where everything that is mentionable is also manageable, to strengthen relationships through so-called “check-ins” to develop effective communication skills, and to openly discuss family expectations.

The research asked: How do daughters take the lead in their family businesses? What are the relevant issues that characterize the succession process for daughters, what are the attributes of daughter successors, and what, if any, features distinguish their leadership style?

Qualitative research comprised reflective interviews with 14 daughter successors. Thematic data analysis was used to analyze data, build models and link to previous research.

The shifting landscape of women's roles in family businesses is evidenced through the experiences of daughters who have taken over the top leadership positions in their family firms. Skill and commitment override gender in successor selection. The women were intrinsically motivated to take over their family businesses and owned significant shares in their firms. The findings confirm the centrality of the successor‐incumbent relationship and reveal mentoring, frequently by the incumbent, as the principal vehicle for the transfer of business leadership. Emotional competence emerged as a key successor quality.

This research is based on a single perspective, that of the successor. The accounts may include elements of performance, that is, selection of content based on the audience and the participant's desired results.

The paper provides an alternate view to female invisibility in the family business, and the practice of primogeniture. This is new research on succession and women's roles in family business.

The purpose of this paper is to use the socio‐emotional wealth perspective to examine how the level of family involvement reduces the propensity to use incentives to non‐family managers in small to medium‐sized enterprises (SME) family firms.Design/methodology/approach – Primary data were collected from US firms. To evaluate the hypotheses, a logit model was employed on a final sample of 2,019 small family firms.

Results suggest that family influence and control and intra‐family transgenerational succession intentions are negatively related to the propensity to use incentives. Also, the interaction effects of family management and ownership reduce the propensity to use incentives.

The paper’s empirical findings imply that despite their potential economic benefits, family involvement reduces the probability that incentives will be offered to non‐family managers because such incentives are perceived to be inconsistent with the preservation of the family’s socioemotional wealth. Also, choices that reflect a preference for socioemotional wealth may not only be a function of decision framing and loss aversion but also by the size of the economic pay‐offs that might be available. The findings suggest that non‐family managers in SME family firms may be affected by a family’s preoccupation with its socioemotional endowments. Thus, the authors expect that this paper provides further avenues to explore the decisions about attaining non‐economic and economic goals and other strategic issues in family firms.

Amidst the perpetual evasiveness of a general succession model, successor commitment has been identified as an important factor. The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent female successor commitment displays particular characteristics and which insights this sheds on successor commitment theory.

Based on a review of the relevant literature, propositions concerning female successor commitment are developed. Qualitative case study data are used to explore the applicability of the multidimensional successor commitment model.

Normative commitment was only observed in female successors at a time of crisis or when no other successor was available. It was found to be a dynamic concept and the data indicated a general shift towards affective commitment. A combination of calculative and affective commitment was found when the female successor chose a career in the family business, to be able to combine career and child care responsibilities, indicating the need to include personal cost in the antecedents for calculative successor commitment.

The findings suggest amendments to consider for the successor commitment model and the calculative commitment type in particular. The most important implication for future research is the development of assessment tools to be able to measure and quantify different types of commitment and their relative strength, in order to be able to make inferences about co‐occurrence and change.

The paper takes a female perspective to explore the successor commitment issue and thereby allows identifying issues hitherto invisible to the successor commitment discussion.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate formation of a copreneurial identity during new venture creation by investigating underpinnings of spousal commitment considering business communication quality.

The study was grounded in identity theory, used a longitudinal copreneurial sample, and SEM modeling. Entrepreneurial literature is filled with how entrepreneurs form their identity, but little is known about how entrepreneurs and their spouses mutually form their copreneurial identity.

Entrepreneurs’ reported spouses having high Time 1 commitment, but spouses reported they were more committed than reported by entrepreneurs. Links between spouse’s Time 1 commitment self‐assessment and Time 2 entrepreneur’s assessment of spousal commitment differed by business communication quality. Time 1 spouse’s commitment self‐assessment was positively related to Time 2 entrepreneur’s appraisal of spousal commitment only for the high business communication group and not for the low business communication group. For couples having high business communication quality, entrepreneur’s assessment of spousal commitment over time was composed of spouse’s self‐assessment of commitment and entrepreneur’s appraisal of spousal commitment, reflecting the mutual verification of a copreneurial identity.

This study provides evidence for Van Auken and Werbel's proposition that an entrepreneur's decision to launch a new business depends not only on opportunity analyses but also on the degree that an entrepreneur's spouse shares a common vision about firm goals. This study not only contributes to the theoretical development of a copreneurial identity but it also addresses measurement issues related to spousal business identity formation. Unlike previous studies considering spousal commitment in terms of marital status or work involvement, a measurement model for spousal commitment was tested using three indicators of cognitive moral commitment. Distinctions were made in stock and flow measures of spousal social capital and initial spousal stock levels were assessed. Furthermore, there appeared to be relatively high consistency between entrepreneur's assessment of spousal commitment and spousal's reflection of their own commitment, suggesting that the spousal commitment construct has some clearly defined properties.

This article uses a social constructionist approach based on ethnography and narrative analysis to understand emotions in leadership. The empirical context of the study is leadership of a theater ensemble's rehearsal process. The study shows that a creative process, such as in a theatrical setting, involves emotional paradoxes. Specifically, the study points out how shame can be used as a leadership tool to increase organizational performance and professional development, rather than for purposes of manipulation as may be typically assumed.