Internationalization and governance of Indian family-owned business groups

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between corporate governance practices and internationalization through foreign direct investments in the context of family-owned business groups in India. Design/methodology/approach - The comparative case study method is used to understand the relationship between corporate governance practices and internationalization using four family-owned business groups in India. Findings - The ownership concentration negatively influences the internationalization, while transparency has a positive association. Professionalization of management helps in internationalization. Overall, good corporate governance practices have a positive influence on group internationalization. Research limitations/implications - This paper provides detailed discussions based on the case study research which would help the future research work on the relationship between corporate governance practices and internationalization. Originality/value - The existing literature studies in this field in the context of emerging markets are inconclusive. Hence, this paper uses the case study method to understand the relationship better.