Family business employees’ family communication and workplace experiences

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how family member employees’ communicative experiences within their families affect their perceptions of the workplace. The influence of family business employees’ perceptions of family communication patterns on family satisfaction, family involvement, and work involvement within their family businesses were explored.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 138 family business employees, representing 81 family businesses, were surveyed. The questionnaire contained measures of family communication patterns, family involvement, work involvement, family satisfaction, as well as several demographic questions. Path modeling was used to analyze two proposed models of family involvement and work involvement.

Findings

Conversation orientation was related to perceptions of family satisfaction and perceptions of family satisfaction were related to perceptions of family involvement. While both proposed models were consistent with the data, no significant relationships were found between conformity orientation and perceptions of family satisfaction and between perceptions of family satisfaction and work involvement.

Originality/value

While not only exploring family business employees’ experiences through a unique communicative lens, this study also provides several practical implications for family business owners and managers.

Citation

Frances Carmon, A. and C. Pearson, J. (2013), "Family business employees’ family communication and workplace experiences", Journal of Family Business Management, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 88-107. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFBM-05-2012-0009