Culture in family business: a two‐country empirical investigation

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to empirically compare values and beliefs of family‐business members with those of professional managers across two countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodological approach utilizes a survey comparing 163 family‐firm members and 168 bank managers in Ukraine and the USA, looking for differences between the culture of members of family‐owned firms and non‐family professionals; and especially the direction of any differences.

Findings

The findings show significant differences between family‐firm members and non‐family professionals in both countries. Differences are in the same direction for three constructs. While this study is limited in only examining two countries, the results imply a conclusion that higher social flexibility and spirituality and lower power distance are potentially universal in terms of family‐firm culture.

Originality/value

This study's value is in illuminating specific fundamental cultural traits that may be related to family‐firm competitive advantage that researchers have noted in the literature.

Citation

Brice, W.D. and Richardson, J. (2009), "Culture in family business: a two‐country empirical investigation", European Business Review, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 246-262. https://doi.org/10.1108/09555340910956630