How family firms use governance mechanisms to mitigate the risks of ecosystems: a case study from healthcare

This study aims to increase our understanding of how family firms, acting as ecosystem orchestrators, mitigate perceived relational and performance risk in ecosystems via the use of governance mechanisms. We use the ecosystem govern- ance literature to understand whether family firms’ characteristics lead to a unique governance approach in an ecosystem setting. Our findings and theoretical implications are threefold; (1) formal and informal governance mechanisms act as complements to mitigate relational and performance risks; (2) the choice of governance mechanisms differs for relational and performance risk; (3) changes in perceived risk over time result in shifts in the relative dominance of formal/informal governance mechanisms.