Sensing Capabilities of Design-Intensive Family Firms: Case-Based Evidence from Turkish Office Furniture Manufacturing Industry

ABSTRACT This study deals with innovation management in design-intensive family firms by researching how sensing innovation capabilities are influenced by family’s involvement, named as familiness, and its dimensions (involvement, essence, organizational identity). The combination of dynamic capability and familiness perspective offers a framework to explore the nature of innovation capabilities in FFs. This single case study specifically samples a representative design-intensive FF with strong innovation and financial performance in the office furniture industry at the national and international level, and with changes in resources and capabilities over time caused by operating in an emerging market context, Turkey. The in-depth qualitative approach reveals the positive relationship between sensing capability and familiness, and finds two recurring behaviors categorized as strategies for sensing capability: (1) monitoring trends and international markets, and analyzing changes in industry and business; and (2) managing ideas through support of internal and external stakeholders. The findings contribute to the literature on innovation in family businesses.