Purpose – This study explores how entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs) enable SME manufacturing firms to orchestrate their resources for innovation processes in response to evolving market demands.

Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws on a case study approach comprising 26 interviews with ESO key actors and SME managers, as well as archival material from these organizations.

Findings – The results indicate that the resource orchestration (RO)–driven translation capabilities of ESO staff across different business contexts constitute central mechanisms in the innovative solutions of SMEs. However, the SME managers’ interpretation of the RO mechanisms that generated innovative solutions diverged from that of the former group.

Originality – This study contributes by extending resource orchestration theory beyond the firm level, uncovering the mediating role of entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs) in shaping innovation-oriented RO processes in SMEs. By identifying the microfoundations of ESO-driven translation capabilities and their divergent interpretations by SME managers, the paper offers novel insights into the contextual contingencies of RO and provides a more nuanced understanding of how external actors foster innovation under dynamic market conditions.

Objectives – the purpose of this paper is to explore how family-owned real estate firm managers entrepreneurially orchestrate their resources to enable firm strategy in an environment characterized by uncertainty. Literature – based on the seminal work of Sirmon et al. (2007, 2011) on resource orchestration (RO), this study advances the research of Chirico et al. (2011), among others, on how the family dimension influences family firm managers' RO for strategic enabling.Approach – this paper draws on a case study using 21 interviews with family firm managers and archival data from family-owned Swedish real estate firmsResults – The results indicate how the family dimension in family-owned real estate firms influence family firm managers’ strategic RO.Implications and Value - Three family-based strategic enabling mechanisms and their underlying microfoundations are identified, explaining how real estate family firm managerial RO configurations are shaped: (1) flexible network structuring, (2), incremental flexibility and tenant focus bundling, and (3) cautious and societal flexible leveraging. The manifestation of these RO configurations highlights how managers of family-owned real estate firms can facilitate firm strategy in conditions of economic uncertainty.