Digital Capabilities, Family Involvement, and Competitive Performance: A Moderated Mediation Perspective

This study examines how Artificial Intelligence (AI) capability influences competitive performance in family firms through the mediating role of big data capability (BDC) and the moderating effect of family involvement in management. Drawing on survey data from 160 Tunisian family firms that adopted AI technologies between 2021 and 2025, the study employs covariance-based structural equation modeling with bootstrapping. The findings show that AI capability enhances competitive performance indirectly through the development of BDC. In addition, family involvement in management strengthens the positive relationship between AI capability and BDC, thereby amplifying the indirect effect to competitive performance. The results suggest that the performance benefits of AI are more likely to emerge when firms develop complementary data analytics capabilities and maintain strong family managerial involvement. By integrating insights from digital transformation and family business research, this study demonstrates that the business value of AI depends not only on technological capabilities but also on organizational and managerial complementarities that enable firms to transform digital investments into competitive advantage.