Event-sampling method with experimental design: A promising method for investigating microfoundational phenomena within family businesses

PurposeThis editorial aims to provide an overview of the current state of research in the UK and proposes some future directions for research for family business scholars.Design/methodology/approachThis article is an editorial with commentary about recent developments in understanding research gaps in the field of family business research.FindingsThe paper discusses the areas where future research in family business is required focusing on three levels: the organization; the individual; and the community.Research implicationsThe paper suggests that there are many unanswered questions which merit further and future research.Practical implicationsThe future of family business research is not in question. The paper posits that there are areas of study in family business which may particularly benefit from taking a cross‐disciplinary approach and suggests that family business researchers might consider exploring theory in the entrepreneurship, small business, sociology, economics and industrial relations areas to gain insights and support for theoretical development in family business.Originality/valueThis article highlights recent UK‐focused discussions regarding the future research directions and gaps in family business research. It suggests there are some emerging areas which require renewed focus particularly related to strategic decision making in family businesses from the organization, individual and social/community perspectives.

The case study method in family business research: Guidelines for qualitative scholarship

Family business research is a success story, as it has evolved into a highly prized area of interest that blends practice with theory. During the past decade, it has emerged as a highly cited area of business management studies that often combine different areas of study in unique and novel ways. The word “family” tends to evoke positive emotions and plays a key role in society that influences people to research this topic. In comparison with other fields of management study, there is a keen sense of interest in further facilitating the growth of this research area. Its importance is generally viewed as important, with some countries and industry contexts valuing it more than others. This means there are often personal and intrinsic rewards to studying family business management.Family business research has a complex history, as the topic has been around for a long time but in various contexts. Initially much of the research came from an accounting and finance perspective, but this changed to more nuanced areas of interest such as succession and planning. As general business management studies have grown, so too has family business research. Some countries tend to view family business as more important, particularly in parts of Asia and Europe, due to historical associations. Other parts of the world still value family business research, but often this depends on the public perceptions and views about family businesses.Family business research productivity has risen, as have associated citations. More family businesses are realising the importance of linking research to practice. This means usually family business outputs exceed other areas of business. Family business is one of the most prominent areas of research based on overall global business management research. Many family business researchers are internationally recognised in different areas of study and hold key leadership roles. This makes family business researchers notable researchers in the scientific field of business management. Family business research has been around a long time, predominately in Europe due to the emphasis on the family, and has expanded into other geographic areas. This means it is something of a cultural area of study and has reached maturity but still is growing. Compared to other business management areas, there seems to be a strong sense of community amongst family business researchers.The history of family business research can be traced back to seminal researchers who established specific journals and conferences on the topic. This meant a sense of belonging emerged on many occasions around people passionate about family business. Some researchers have a niche area of study that corresponds to their location or areas of interest. Others take a more contemporary approach based on current industry contexts. This means periodically key themes emerge that are tied into other business issues. There are many various areas of family business, but all link back to the essential function of a family business in terms of creating value. Some researchers take a critical perspective of family business, pointing out weaknesses and areas of improvement, whilst others have a more positive view. For researchers coming from a family business background, there can be a different perspective depending on their experiences. This can be based on length of association with the family business and role in the business.Family business is of increased relevance to business research due to its specific organisational form. This means identifying concepts and examples is related to practical occurrences. The story of family business research is encouraging due to its rise in prominence. It occupies a strong position in research, as it is supported by productive researchers.

The intergenerational transition or succession process is a well-researched topic in the family business literature. Yet, despite the numerous studies addressing this complex process, family business scholars have recently critiqued the research results obtained thus far (Sharma, Chrisman and Gersick, 2012). Specifically, some argue that the problem lies in the prevailing paradigm of the positivistic rationalist research ontology and epistemology that continues to dominate the field (Litz, Pearson and Litchfield, 2012). Litz et al. further note that the majority of empirical research is conducted through testing hypotheses on large samples in an effort to identify the ultimate dependent, moderating, or mediating variables that explain succession. Hence, the field appears to be marred by a set of standardized procedures that allow rigor, but sacrifice an in-depth understanding of such an ambiguous process. In a similar vein, Dawson and Hjorth (2012) call for methodological pluralism and encourage scholars to adopt a narrative approach. More recently, Sharma, Salvato and Reay (2014) observe that, although time is pervasive in a family business, it has generally been overlooked by family business scholars and they advocate for its inclusion in family business research.

Application of metric conjoint analysis in family business research

This article aims to bring the topics of kinship and economy together in a particular way. Family business researchers with a strong background in management studies dominate the analysis of family firms and business families. However, adding anthropological research to family business will benefit future research in both disciplines and provide a better understanding of family business beyond these research trajectories. This article aims to contribute to this literature.

The article highlights the concepts of "family" and "business family" in the context of "family business" research as a phenomenon of the global business environment. Applying the macro and micro levels of analysis, the family is regarded as a specific and localized object in space and time. An attempt was made to outline the structure of the family (in a narrow and broad sense), which is based on family and marital relations, as well as to identify the totality of the characteristics that make up its essence.A number of leading overseas scholars seek to single out the business family as the primary unit of study of family business and search for its core characteristics, including: group emotions, moral consciousness, ethical behavior, culture and competencies. At the same time, the family, as part of the family business, has inherent negative phenomena that must be taken into account. These include: nepotism, asymmetric altruism, affluence, paternalism, presidential consolidation (usurpation of power).In the 3-Circle Model, in addition to other functional groups in the family business, we have identified a group of segments, namely 4, 6, 7, which form the functional group "business family" and represent family members who are owners, owners and directors, family employees who do not own property.Defining family business is one of the important issues in family business research. Although many attempts have been made to define, describe, summarize the term "family business", it should be noted that there is still no conventional approach. Family business is interpreted by us as a dynamic adaptive system that self-realizes, is focused on the long-term prospect of development, professes family values, builds a reputation, provides for qualified succession, life-long learning, positions itself as a social institute, seeks to increase professionalism of business and efficiency a business family that controls property and is involved in running a business.

The qualitative research reported here is part of an ongoing, value-adding relationship between family-owned businesses and two universities: the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and the Family Business Program at the University of St. Thomas. The family business programs at both universities have gone beyond the family business forum model so prevalent today and engaged with participating family firms in facilitating actions that represent meaningful changes for the family business. This article documents some of the changes and value derived by the participating firms. It also proposes the notion that the family business field can learn from action research processes. Because action research can keep both practitioners and researchers in contact with the fundamental problems faced by family-controlled corporations, it can help create knowledge that is immensely practical and fundamental.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review family businesses as a subset of sustainable entrepreneurship. It is intended that another avenue of scholarship for the growing interest in family businesses and their continuity across generations will be outlined.Design/methodology/approachRelevant journal articles were selected and broadly analysed to gather an understanding of the current state of existing sustainable entrepreneurship literature. The main themes extrapolated related to sustainable entrepreneurship and potential directions for future research.FindingsAlthough sustainable entrepreneurship has been traditionally concentrated in the environmental and social responsibility literature, there are emerging paths where family businesses can be considered alongside community-based enterprise.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings suggest that future research into sustaining family businesses across generations could be situated under sustainable entrepreneurship scholarship.Originality/valueThis paper presents a novel review and summary of recent literature at the juncture of family business and sustainable entrepreneurship. It is useful for directing scholars towards an avenue which has not traditionally had attention from family business researchers.

This article aims at offering a comprehensive framework that describes the emotional nexus, that is, the way emotions bind the family and the business, among cogent family business archetypes. Building on research discussions on family business boundaries and insights from Family Systems Theory, Exchange Theory and Emotional Dissonance Theory, the “Enmeshed Family Business”, “Balanced Family Business”, and “Disengaged Family Business” are suggested as conceptual refinements of existing typologies in the family business field. Vignette illustrations and descriptions of the emotional characteristics of these three archetypes contribute to defining a family business model inclusive of the emotional dimension. The theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and future research directions on emotions in family businesses are finally discussed.

There is a growing interest in the field of family business as a scientific discipline with a significant increase in the number of researches and teaching cases. Unfortunately, the Egyptian academic contribution to the family business is very limited. Due to that, the American University in Cairo (AUC) started its quest for popularizing the concepts of family business in the year 2017. The paper is mainly addressing the evolution of case write-ups at AUC. The paper starts with an explanation about the personal and institutional attributes which helped in the inception of the family business course. This is followed by description of the topics covered within the family business cases, and then explanation about the structure of the cases, and the teaching note. Examples of evaluation tools through rubrics were discussed. Also achievements, publication impediments were reviewed. The paper is useful for professors who are interested in innovative learning pedagogy since it describes different, verified, and reliable tools for case write-up with the aim of transferring knowledge to educators.

Notwithstanding family businesses being a prevalent phenomenon in the economies of most countries, insight into this form of enterprise is still limited and it has been largely ignored as a study field. Interest has now grown in identifying and understanding those facets of business that support the superior performance of family firms. As interest in the field of family business has expanded, so have the theories that support these views. Theory therefore provides a guideline to investigate causalities and link information. It indicate that presently there is no single, generally accepted theory defining the family-firm concept and that rigorous work on such theory is only just starting.The purpose of this article is to review the different theories underlying family businesses. It is concluded that the orthodox theories, that regard the business and the family as separate units, do not acknowledge the complexity of the different relationships that exist in family businesses. A Conceptual Familiness* Transmission of Capital Model is suggested in the current study as representative of the functioning of family businesses as an interactive system. It embraces the heterodox views that the family and the business cannot be separated, but are rather seen as an interactive system with unique, collectable resources. It fulfils the need of the main deficiency in the family organisation literature, namely a theory that explains the developmental stages of each generation succession.*Used in the context of Habbershon and Williams (1999:1)

Abstract: This paper proposes a strategy for the family firm sector to gain the attention of policy makers. The strategy builds through influencing social expectations, creating political issues, developing legislative actions which are subsequently implemented and regulated. To achieve this, we suggest that the family business sector must achieve salience as a community’s definitive stakeholders in which capacity they possess, or are perceived to possess, attributes of power, legitimacy and urgency . Propositions are advanced consistent with developing these attributes that collectively build a policy pathway from the societal benefits that family firms can provide by suggesting the building and management of family firm resources to generate optimal outcomes. Experiences from Australia to illustrate the introduced processes are included. Key words: Family business; life cycle; issue management; stakeholder salience; public policy; Australian case study It is impossible to ignore family business. This business rubric permeates, and contributes stoically to, the economic and social well-being of every society. In the USA, family businesses are estimated to account for up to 49% of GDP and 78% of new job creation (Astrachan & Shanker, 2003) with these figures being reflective of most developed countries around the world. Considerable evidence suggests that family businesses generally out perform their non-family counterparts using a variety of metrics (e.g., Dibrell & Craig, 2006; McConaughy, Matthews, & Fialko, 2001). Anderson and Reeb (2003) confirm that when family members serve as the CEO, financial performance is better than with CEOs from outside the family, and that this effect is even more pronounced when founders are still active; supporting that family ownership is an effective organizational form. However, despite the fact that it is estimated that family business makes up approximately 80% of all business globally, it is only recently that scholars have paid more than a cursory glance to family business as a research pursuit. Though this ignorance is being addressed and family business research is gaining significant traction in academic journals and, with that, overdue legitimacy, in the absence of an accepted framework, interpreting research results to influence public policy, with few notable exceptions,

Purpose – 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.Design/methodology/approach – 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.Findings – 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) a...

This paper has taken an insight to the systemic models of family business from the open systems perspective. I focus on family business system models and on the subsystems content of family system and ownership system in family business context. The paper claim that the open system perspective on intercultural family businesses has both theoretical and empirical implications on family business research. Family businesses have many reasons, including family conflicts over money, nepotism leading to wrong management, and infighting over the succession of power from one generation to the other. Regulating the family’s roles as shareholders, board members, and managers is very important because it can help avoid these pitfalls. This paper will discuss the importance of the openness of the company through five the attributes of enduring family businesses: ownership, family, business and portfolio governance, wealth management, foundation. Dimension of attributes success have taken family business like five jewelers.