Ownership competence in family firms: conceptualization and managerial implications

Purpose This article investigates ownership competence as a theoretically distinct and managerially significant construct in family firms, develops a multidimensional conceptualization of the construct and maps the intellectual structure of research on this emerging theme. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review integrating bibliometric analysis with content analysis was conducted on Scopus-indexed publications using VOSviewer, combining keyword co-occurrence, temporal overlay and co-authorship analyses. Findings Keyword co-occurrence analysis identifies four thematic clusters – core family business dynamics and succession, agency and governance structure, ownership competence and strategic restructuring, and active ownership and shareholder role – revealing a field in transition from structural to capability-based theorization of the ownership function. Temporal overlay visualization confirms that ownership competence is among the most recently emergent themes, concentrated in publications from 2024 to 2026. Integrating the bibliometric evidence with agency theory, stewardship theory and the socioemotional wealth perspective, the article develops a multidimensional framework of ownership competence comprising four dimensions: strategic-matching, governance, relational-stewardship and transgenerational-socioemotional competence. Research limitations/implications The corpus is limited to Scopus-indexed publications, and the emerging nature and limited size of the field warrant caution when interpreting and generalizing the findings. Practical implications The article derives implications for succession planning, owner development and governance professionalization in family firms, including a preliminary diagnostic framework for assessing and developing ownership competence. Social implications Strengthening ownership competence supports the continuity of family firms, with attendant benefits for employment, local communities and regional economies. Originality/value The article advances the first multidimensional conceptualization of ownership competence in family firms that explicitly integrates agency theory, stewardship theory and the socioemotional wealth perspective, derives the dimensions of the construct from the combined bibliometric and content analysis, distinguishes ownership competence from adjacent constructs such as managerial capability and entrepreneurial orientation and offers the first bibliometric mapping of this construct in family firms.