The Complicating Factor of Life Cycles in Corporate Venturing

Does family matter in corporate venturing? Converting the question, can a family firm survive without corporate venturing? Life cycle theory contends that it is normal for an organization to form, grow, mature, decline, and die. Long-term survival, especially through multiple generations, would require renewal through innovation to avoid decay and death. Strategic corporate venturing may be the answer for many family firms. To innovate and prosper, a family enterprise must contend with multiple life cycles, rarely synchronized, any one of which may be in a decline stage at any point in time. This commentary examines how life cycles complicate the ability of families to plan strategically for corporate entrepreneurship.