Search results

1 – 10 of 505
Article
Publication date: 25 October 2019

Rawa Alwadani and Nelson Oly Ndubisi

Family centered non-economic (FCNE) goals, such as environmental and social goals, are sometimes strenuous to “sell” to non-family members in a family business, and are often open…

Abstract

Purpose

Family centered non-economic (FCNE) goals, such as environmental and social goals, are sometimes strenuous to “sell” to non-family members in a family business, and are often open to resistance. The purpose of this paper is to identify socio-psychological mechanisms for achieving FCNE goals because, in addition to economic goals, they are the other two components of the triple bottom line.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a juxtaposition of the literature on family businesses, and the theories of mindfulness and psychological ownership, this paper argues for the facilitating roles of family involvement and mindful organizing in the achievement of FCNE goals. An example of how a Kuwaiti oil company implements these ideas is appended.

Findings

A moderated link between family involvement, mindful organizing and FCNE goal of environmental sustainability. Besides its direct effect on environmental sustainability, mindful organizing also has a potential mediating role in the relationship between family involvement and environmental sustainability. Psychological ownership, environmental sensitivity and individual mindfulness will moderate the relationship between mindful organizing and the achievement of environmental sustainability goals.

Research limitations/implications

The paper presents ten propositions and argues that three types of family involvement (ownership, management and inter-generational), together with non-family engagement (through mindful organizing) would lead to success in achieving the FCNE goal of environmental sustainability. Psychological ownership, environmental sensitivity and individual mindfulness are potential moderators.

Practical implications

The paper suggests some key drivers of FCNE goal of environmental sustainability as well as several contingent factors. Applicable to family businesses, owners and/or managers of similar firms can apply knowledge from this study in the pursuit of environmental sustainability.

Originality/value

The paper’s model advances the current understanding of the link between family involvement, mindful organizing, environmental sustainability, psychological ownership, environmental sensitivity and individual mindfulness in the context of family business. The paper further suggests new future research directions.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 41 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 August 2023

Robert Randolph, Eric Kushins and Prachi Gala

Despite similarities, research across family business and business advising forwards contradictory conclusions when considering family business advising. The authors seek to…

Abstract

Purpose

Despite similarities, research across family business and business advising forwards contradictory conclusions when considering family business advising. The authors seek to integrate these literature and in doing so uncover both the hurdles facing family business advisors attempting to adapt tools developed in corporate advising to the family business context as well as the potential for greater integration of these streams in ways that contribute to both family business and advising research and practice.

Design/methodology/approach

Primary data were collected both in the form of a survey questionnaire and website marketing content. In the survey, 47 family business advisors evaluated the distinctiveness of their family business clients across structural, cognitive and relational social capital dimensions. Motivated by unexpected findings, a content analysis of advisor websites uncovered specific marketing themes that illustrate the divides between family business advising and scholarship.

Findings

Family business advisors reliably acknowledge structural and cognitive social capital as preeminently characterizing the distinctiveness of their family business clients. Expanding on this, the authors’ findings suggest that the urgency signaled in advisor marketing via their websites may inspire tactics misaligned with the long-term time horizon typically characterizing family businesses strategy.

Originality/value

The few family business advising studies that exist predominantly consider post-hoc evaluation of advising by family business clients. The primary data the authors collect are unique in the literature in that the data detail how family business advisors perceive and engage with potential clients.

Details

Journal of Family Business Management, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2043-6238

Keywords

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 14 December 2023

Chris Graves, Donella Caspersz and Jill Thomas

Prior family business research has been dominated by an agency theory perspective, narrow definitions of what constitutes family wealth, and a preoccupation with business…

Abstract

Prior family business research has been dominated by an agency theory perspective, narrow definitions of what constitutes family wealth, and a preoccupation with business governance mechanisms to the exclusion of family governance mechanisms. This chapter presents the findings of examining the role of a broader range of governance mechanisms (for the business; for the family) in achieving more comprehensive wealth (economic and non-economic) family business goals in the Australian context. Based on survey responses from around 400 family businesses, the findings from this study show that both family and business governance mechanisms contribute significantly to achieving both the business’s financial performance and the achievement of family-centered goals that are important to the owning family. The results also suggest that the relationship between governance and performance in the family business context is much more complex than that acknowledged in prior research and has implications for both future research and practice.

Article
Publication date: 15 August 2022

Georges Samara and Maria Lapeira

The authors conceptually theorize the obstacles and opportunities that women encounter in family businesses embedded in Latin America, by differentiating between two clusters of…

Abstract

Purpose

The authors conceptually theorize the obstacles and opportunities that women encounter in family businesses embedded in Latin America, by differentiating between two clusters of countries embedded in this continent.

Design/methodology/approach

Using secondary data obtained from various sources, the authors adopted a flexible pattern matching methodology, which involves linking theoretical propositions with actual observed patterns. For each proposition, the authors categorize the comparison with the observed data as either confirming or rivaling the expected patterns in the clusters.

Findings

This study’s findings reveal that women have more leadership and employment opportunities in the first cluster (Brazil, Chile, and Mexico) than in the second (Argentina, Colombia, and Peru). The authors propose that these differences are the result of higher tolerance for women in political leadership positions and of the presence of larger and more internationally expanding corporations in the first cluster. We also find differences between two groups of women: female family members and female nonfamily members, with the former being granted much more opportunities than the latter.

Practical implications

This research increases the understanding of potential avenues for managers and policymakers in Latin America to foster gender diversity as a means to remain competitive in a global market. While actions at the state level may be more long-term oriented, others, such as those taken by small and medium-sized family businesses may have more immediate effects in minimizing gender biases and encouraging a greater participation of females in business.

Originality/value

By differentiating between two clusters of countries in Latin America, and by making careful consideration of whether females have family ties, the authors provide a more realistic and contextualized theoretical map that depicts the situation of women in Latin American family businesses. This contextualization is one of the first that attempts to examine how multiple institutional logics impact women in family businesses in an underexplored region of the world while differentiating between female family members and female nonfamily members. These findings inform policymakers and family business owners in Latin America on the peculiar challenges that women encounter in their context, while calling for more measures promote the active presence of females in Latin American family businesses.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 61 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 December 2023

Gregorio Sánchez-Marín, Gabriel Lozano-Reina and Mane Beglaryan

This study explores what impact high-performance work practices (HPWP) – from the ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) framework – might have on financial performance among family…

Abstract

Purpose

This study explores what impact high-performance work practices (HPWP) – from the ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) framework – might have on financial performance among family firms and examines the mediating role played by family-centered goals (FCGs).

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical approach is based on data collected from a sample of 339 Spanish small and medium-sized family enterprises operating in the industry and service sectors. To test the hypotheses, this paper applies a path analysis modeling tool to estimate both indirect and direct effects in mediator models.

Findings

The results indicate that the AMO framework has a significant impact on financial performance through the lens of FCGs. In addition, family businesses' keen concern to preserve family wealth influences the effectiveness of HPWPs, making firms more socioemotionally oriented at the expense of economic impact.

Research limitations/implications

This paper underscores the importance of integrating family aspirations into strategic human resource management (HRM) design, emphasizing the significance of socioemotional wealth (SEW) preservation.

Practical implications

The findings offer practical insights for family managers, family owners and human resource (HR) practitioners, suggesting the need to align HR practices with family goals and to strategically balance socioemotional and financial wealth considerations. Family owners in key management positions must skillfully manage HR strategies in order to harmonize family and firm goals.

Originality/value

By examining the mediating effect of FCGs, this paper advances and extends SEW theory in the context of HRM by considering the relationships between HR practices and firm performance as a mixed gamble approach.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 31 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 3 November 2023

Nikola Rosecká and Ondřej Machek

This paper aims to examine the effects of socio-emotional wealth importance (SEWi) in family firms and family firm-specific HR practices, namely professionalization and…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the effects of socio-emotional wealth importance (SEWi) in family firms and family firm-specific HR practices, namely professionalization and bifurcation bias, on their entrepreneurial orientation (EO).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper surveyed 133 small and medium-sized family firms in the USA. The respondents were recruited through Prolific Academic.

Findings

When SEWi is low, a family firm becomes more similar to a non-family firm, thereby enjoying the benefits associated with EO. When SEWi is high, a family firm leverages the unique resources and capabilities specific to family firms. Moderate SEWi levels are associated with lower EO levels. Additionally, the results support the argument that professionalization (involving non-family managers, formalization and decentralization) fosters EO, while bifurcation bias hinders its development.

Originality/value

Unlike previous studies, this paper posits a non-linear, U-shaped relationship between SEWi and EO. It contributes to the field by empirically investigating the effects of professionalization and bifurcation bias on EO in family firms.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 30 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 May 2020

Desmond Ng, Harvey S. James Jr and Peter G. Klein

As the prioritization of family goals depends on the resolution of family conflict, this study's purpose is to explain how a dominant coalition (DC) of parental family members…

Abstract

Purpose

As the prioritization of family goals depends on the resolution of family conflict, this study's purpose is to explain how a dominant coalition (DC) of parental family members prioritizes their family economic and non-economic goals when faced with different types of family conflict.

Design/methodology/approach

A conceptual framework is developed drawing on a socio-cognitive approach to explain a family's goal formation process. This socio-cognitive approach extends the stakeholder salience underpinnings of family influence/essence theory. It shows that family conflict arises from the complex and novel social settings of a family business and that a DC prioritizes their family's goals by drawing on heuristic biases to resolve such family conflict.

Findings

A key finding of this study is the introduction of a distinct type of agency to family influence/essence research. Unlike the salient explanations, a family's goal formulation process is attributed to a DC's heuristic response in resolving their family business conflict.

Originality/value

Scholars have called for a greater need to investigate the social and cognitive underpinnings of a family's goal formation process. While the social settings of a family business are often explained in terms of family conflict, an understanding of the sources of such conflict and their resolution have received limited attention. This study opens new avenues to understanding the sources of such family conflict and the cognitive mechanisms needed to overcome them. This understanding is critical not only to the prioritization of a family's goals but also to the idea that “influence” defines the essence of a family business.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 27 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 October 2013

Martin R.W. Hiebl

This article presents the family business-specific benefits of taking a proactive approach to using management accounting practices and information.

2751

Abstract

Purpose

This article presents the family business-specific benefits of taking a proactive approach to using management accounting practices and information.

Design/methodology/approach

The (scarce) literature on management accounting in family businesses is used to discuss the obstacles and benefits of management accounting in family businesses. The benefits are presented using the three-circle model, which displays the family business system consisting of the three subsystems ownership, business and family.

Findings

For family businesses, the main benefits of (increasingly) using management accounting should lie in codifying tacit knowledge, preparing for family and non-family succession, facilitating more fact-based decision-making and alleviating the production of proper information of non-family investors and creditors.

Practical implications

Family business owners, as well as non-family managers in family businesses, might find helpful food for thought regarding how to establish or develop further the management accounting system in a family business.

Originality/value

This article is among the first to discuss the benefits of management accounting for family businesses.

Details

Journal of Business Strategy, vol. 34 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0275-6668

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 October 2015

Esra Memili, Hanqing Chevy Fang and Dianne H.B. Welsh

The purpose of this paper is to examine the generational differences among publicly traded family firms in regards to value creation and value appropriation in the innovation…

1847

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the generational differences among publicly traded family firms in regards to value creation and value appropriation in the innovation process by drawing upon the knowledge-based view (KBV) and family business literature with a focus on socioemotional wealth perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors tests the hypotheses via longitudinal regression analyses based on 285 yearly cross-firm S & P 500 firm observations.

Findings

First, the authors found that family ownership with second or later generation’s majority exhibits lower levels of value creation capabilities compared to non-family firms, whereas there is no difference between those of the firms with family ownership with a first generation’s majority and non-family firms. Second, the authors also found that family owned firms with a first generation’s majority have higher value appropriation abilities compared to nonfamily firms, while there is no significant difference in value appropriation between the later generation family firms and non-family firms.

Research limitations/implications

The study help scholars, family business members, and investors better understand family involvement, and how it impacts firm performance through value creation and value appropriation.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the family business, innovation, and KBV literature in several ways. While previous family business studies drawing upon resource-based view and KBV often focus on the value creation in family governance, the authors investigate both value creation and value appropriation phases of innovation process.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 53 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 September 2010

Chris Warren‐Adamson and Anita Lightburn

This article reflects on the significance of family centres in the UK as a mirror of new possibilities for child welfare in the years following the Children Act 1989. The Act…

Abstract

This article reflects on the significance of family centres in the UK as a mirror of new possibilities for child welfare in the years following the Children Act 1989. The Act empowered local authorities in England and Wales to provide family centres as part of ‘family support practice’. The article reveals a rich vein of family‐centred, centre‐based activity internationally and shows practice combining intervention from the sophisticated to the very informal. The authors focus on so‐called ‘integrated centres’ as complex systems of care with wide implications for practice and outcome evaluation in an ‘evidence‐based’ context.

Details

Journal of Children's Services, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-6660

Keywords

1 – 10 of 505