Abstract

This paper investigates the intergenerational development of the business model construct within transgenerational entrepreneurial families (TEFs) over a four-year period, using a longitudinal multiple case study methodology comprising 48 interviews, 390 archival sources and 25 observational instances of four TEF firms. As a result of our longitudinal stance, our findings and theoretical model provide new insights into the relationship between business model dimensions (resource, finance, infrastructure, stakeholders and value) for TEF firms within and across different generations. For instance, our insights into the opportunities and risks of knowledge transmission during micro/macro resource pooling contribute to the demographic approach of the theorizing process of the family business field, through developing our understanding of how family participation dimensions affect resources for TEF firms. Accordingly, we advance entrepreneurship theory and practice by assessing the fundamentals of business model construction within the TEF context, thus expediting stronger theoretical perspectives of transgenerational entrepreneurship.