Purpose

This study explains how managers in family-owned real estate firms achieve flexibility in orchestrating their resources under conditions of uncertainty.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on a single-case design, utilizing 21 interviews with top managers and archival material from 18 Swedish family-owned real estate firms to capture how the phenomenon of resource orchestration (RO) unfolds under uncertainty.

Findings

The results reveal how the family phenomenon can be understood as a key driver of the family firm’s RO mechanisms, shaping the RO activities of its managers.

Originality/value

Three distinct RO configurations of family firm managers are identified: (1) flexible network structuring, (2) incremental flexibility and stakeholder-focused bundling and (3) cautious and societal flexible leveraging. These configurations explain how the family dimension enables the manager’s RO flexibility under conditions of uncertainty.