Search results

The purpose of this paper is to present an innovative study with a twofold focus: on highly escalated family business (FB) conflicts and on the interactions between conflicts and the failure of the company as FB. The authors devoted this paper to the question of how family-related conflicts are connected with the demise of FB. Conflicts constitute an essential part of every FB and may definitely have the power to superimpose the performance of the FB as well as the family life in a destructive way. Especially, highly escalated so called relationship conflicts can be seen as one reason for the failure of FB.

The research aims at analysing the meaning of conflict in FB with respect to the failure of the FB. Therefore, the authors use an explorative case study approach. The study is based on a total of five case studies. As the authors use theory of social systems as a theoretical background, the authors focused in the analysis in all cases on patterns rather than on individual characteristics.

As an essential part of the study the authors formulated eight hypotheses describing specific patterns of the conflict process as a communicative system. These hypotheses convey a comprehensible impression of the effects conflicts may have within FB and present a number of new facets of conflict dynamics and patterns of escalation in FB.

In particular, the authors provide new insights into the dynamics of highly destructive forms of conflicts in FB and the relationship between family-related conflicts and the failure of FB. The authors also pave the way for future research that aim to develop a more holistic understanding about when and why the outcomes from family and business systems will conflict or be harmonious.

Family businesses (FBs) play an important role in economies across the world. FBs are consistently associated with specific attributes and expectations, which is something that points towards the notion that FBs can be regarded as a “brand” on their own. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether FBs have actually become a “brand” in the eyes of the wider population.

The empirical investigation is based on the “Personal Construct Theory” (PCT), developed by George R. Kelly. According to this theory, human beings categorise and evaluate the world by building “personal constructs” that reflect their unconscious attitudes and value systems. To find out about the attitudes towards FBs, we used the “Nextexpertizer”^® program, which exploits the PCT as a computer‐based survey instrument. Finally, these results are connected with two different brand theories: the identity‐oriented brand theory of Heribert Meffert and a sociological‐based understanding of brands. The study was conducted in two stages: in 2007/2008 the authors interviewed a randomised sample of 80 people across Germany. In 2009 they interviewed 30 people with almost identical socio‐demographic characteristics, to assure the comparability of the two surveys.

The analysis of the aforementioned brand theories shows that FBs can be indeed described as a brand on their own. In order to speak of a strong brand, the identity‐oriented approach requires the compliance between the intro‐perspective and the external‐perspective of brands. The perceptions of FBs exhibit a remarkable stability in both surveys. In sum, FBs are perceived as the most sustainable and social type of company. Nevertheless, FBs are also associated with certain negative attributes: for example, middle‐size FBs are regarded as particularly inflexible.

The study shows that FBs address the identity myths of stability and safety like no other company type. Yet the identity myths also evoke other societal needs, such as egoistic self‐fulfillment motives, or the will to live free and without boundaries. For these needs, FBs are perceived as inflexible and stiff.

The research asked: How do daughters take the lead in their family businesses? What are the relevant issues that characterize the succession process for daughters, what are the attributes of daughter successors, and what, if any, features distinguish their leadership style?

Qualitative research comprised reflective interviews with 14 daughter successors. Thematic data analysis was used to analyze data, build models and link to previous research.

The shifting landscape of women's roles in family businesses is evidenced through the experiences of daughters who have taken over the top leadership positions in their family firms. Skill and commitment override gender in successor selection. The women were intrinsically motivated to take over their family businesses and owned significant shares in their firms. The findings confirm the centrality of the successor‐incumbent relationship and reveal mentoring, frequently by the incumbent, as the principal vehicle for the transfer of business leadership. Emotional competence emerged as a key successor quality.

This research is based on a single perspective, that of the successor. The accounts may include elements of performance, that is, selection of content based on the audience and the participant's desired results.

The paper provides an alternate view to female invisibility in the family business, and the practice of primogeniture. This is new research on succession and women's roles in family business.

The purpose of this paper is to use the socio‐emotional wealth perspective to examine how the level of family involvement reduces the propensity to use incentives to non‐family managers in small to medium‐sized enterprises (SME) family firms.Design/methodology/approach – Primary data were collected from US firms. To evaluate the hypotheses, a logit model was employed on a final sample of 2,019 small family firms.

Results suggest that family influence and control and intra‐family transgenerational succession intentions are negatively related to the propensity to use incentives. Also, the interaction effects of family management and ownership reduce the propensity to use incentives.

The paper’s empirical findings imply that despite their potential economic benefits, family involvement reduces the probability that incentives will be offered to non‐family managers because such incentives are perceived to be inconsistent with the preservation of the family’s socioemotional wealth. Also, choices that reflect a preference for socioemotional wealth may not only be a function of decision framing and loss aversion but also by the size of the economic pay‐offs that might be available. The findings suggest that non‐family managers in SME family firms may be affected by a family’s preoccupation with its socioemotional endowments. Thus, the authors expect that this paper provides further avenues to explore the decisions about attaining non‐economic and economic goals and other strategic issues in family firms.

Amidst the perpetual evasiveness of a general succession model, successor commitment has been identified as an important factor. The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent female successor commitment displays particular characteristics and which insights this sheds on successor commitment theory.

Based on a review of the relevant literature, propositions concerning female successor commitment are developed. Qualitative case study data are used to explore the applicability of the multidimensional successor commitment model.

Normative commitment was only observed in female successors at a time of crisis or when no other successor was available. It was found to be a dynamic concept and the data indicated a general shift towards affective commitment. A combination of calculative and affective commitment was found when the female successor chose a career in the family business, to be able to combine career and child care responsibilities, indicating the need to include personal cost in the antecedents for calculative successor commitment.

The findings suggest amendments to consider for the successor commitment model and the calculative commitment type in particular. The most important implication for future research is the development of assessment tools to be able to measure and quantify different types of commitment and their relative strength, in order to be able to make inferences about co‐occurrence and change.

The paper takes a female perspective to explore the successor commitment issue and thereby allows identifying issues hitherto invisible to the successor commitment discussion.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate formation of a copreneurial identity during new venture creation by investigating underpinnings of spousal commitment considering business communication quality.

The study was grounded in identity theory, used a longitudinal copreneurial sample, and SEM modeling. Entrepreneurial literature is filled with how entrepreneurs form their identity, but little is known about how entrepreneurs and their spouses mutually form their copreneurial identity.

Entrepreneurs’ reported spouses having high Time 1 commitment, but spouses reported they were more committed than reported by entrepreneurs. Links between spouse’s Time 1 commitment self‐assessment and Time 2 entrepreneur’s assessment of spousal commitment differed by business communication quality. Time 1 spouse’s commitment self‐assessment was positively related to Time 2 entrepreneur’s appraisal of spousal commitment only for the high business communication group and not for the low business communication group. For couples having high business communication quality, entrepreneur’s assessment of spousal commitment over time was composed of spouse’s self‐assessment of commitment and entrepreneur’s appraisal of spousal commitment, reflecting the mutual verification of a copreneurial identity.

This study provides evidence for Van Auken and Werbel's proposition that an entrepreneur's decision to launch a new business depends not only on opportunity analyses but also on the degree that an entrepreneur's spouse shares a common vision about firm goals. This study not only contributes to the theoretical development of a copreneurial identity but it also addresses measurement issues related to spousal business identity formation. Unlike previous studies considering spousal commitment in terms of marital status or work involvement, a measurement model for spousal commitment was tested using three indicators of cognitive moral commitment. Distinctions were made in stock and flow measures of spousal social capital and initial spousal stock levels were assessed. Furthermore, there appeared to be relatively high consistency between entrepreneur's assessment of spousal commitment and spousal's reflection of their own commitment, suggesting that the spousal commitment construct has some clearly defined properties.

This editorial seeks to provide an outline and reasoning for the launch of the new Journal of Family Business Management (JFBM). The paper explains how the family business subject area has developed in previous years and highlights the authors' views on where the subject needs to focus in future.

This article is an editorial with commentary on the family business subject area. It provides discussion about what is a family business; discusses the growth in family business studies; and highlights the need for family businesses to focus on competitive advantage.

Family business has evolved significantly over the past decade and today it is a well accepted and respected field of enquiry. In gaining academic acceptance, it has retained its practitioner roots. The paper argues that it is time for a re‐think because the focus of previous family business research has become somewhat convoluted with small‐ and medium‐scale enterprises research (at least in the UK) and with particular parts of the family business rather than the entire family business system.

The paper argues that it is still the case that the proportion of family‐business‐related journals in relation to all business journals is small. Family businesses constitute the majority of global businesses and their contribution to the global economy is significantly greater than non‐family‐owned businesses. However, academic research on family businesses is still a new field less than 30 years old with many subjects and topics yet to be explored. This paper describes the approach the JFBM will adopt to address this imbalance and how it will focus on research that takes an inclusive, cross‐disciplinary approach to the study of family business management.

To continue its impressive upward trajectory, family business management and research needs to embrace new theoretical perspectives and approaches, particularly those that come from disciplines such as psychology, that at the moment have tenuous links to family business studies. It also needs to embrace learning that can be gained from practitioners and develop a useful discourse between stakeholder groups in the family business community.

This article highlights the contribution that this new journal brings to the family business subject area and defines the gap that it aims to fill. It will be useful for academics, researchers and family business practitioners, policy makers and professional business advisors.