Family Business And Management

This outstanding book provides you with a detailed look at family businesses, the most prevalent form of business in the world. Whether you are a business student, or a member of a family who owns a business, you will definitely benefit from this book, which leads with an introduction to the unique nature of family businesses. Inside, the author explores the many differences between a family-owned business and a nonfamily-owned business. He discusses the major family business theories and shows how family firms make business decisions. This book also defines the significant issues prevalent in family firms and explores the most problematic issue: the succession or the transfer of ownership to the next generation. If you are a professional advisor to family firms—such as accountants, attorneys, bankers, insurance providers, and financial services—you’ll undoubtedly develop a better understanding for your clients.

Family businesses—the predominant form of business organization around the world—can make numerous, critical contributions to the economy and family well-being in both financial and qualitative terms. But dysfunctional family businesses can be difficult to manage, painful experiences at best, and they can destroy family wealth and personal relationships. This book explores the dynamics of family business management, in the context of constantly changing market conditions and the role that knowledge management plays in strategic planning and adaptation. Integrating the literature from family business, entrepreneurship, industrial psychology, and knowledge management, and with illustrative examples from a variety of enterprises, the authors address such topics as: •How family businesses can compete in the new knowledge economy •How to manage a family business when knowledge is its main asset •How to transfer knowledge (and how to keep it alive) through family generations Within this framework, the authors argue that effective resource management—especially intangible resources—is central to enabling a family-run organization to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage over time. They note that families often develop systemic, intuitive, or tacit knowledge that transcends rational decision making and needs to be recognized and nurtured as a distinctive asset. The authors demonstrate that trans-generational value is achieved when the family firm innovates and adapts itself to changing external and internal conditions. This kind of entrepreneurial performance requires dynamic capabilities and processes designed to acquire, exchange, combine and even shed knowledge and practices; and, in turn, dynamic capabilities result from mechanisms of knowledge sharing, collective learning, experience accumulation, and transfer.

The purpose of this book is to provide readers with an introductory overview of family business, the most prevalent form of business in the world. The differences between family and nonfamily businesses are emphasized in this book. There are several key audiences: As a supplemental text for university undergraduate or graduate level courses such as small business management, introduction to business, entrepreneurship, or family studies. Members of family businesses will benefit from the book as an introduction to the unique nature of family businesses. Professional advisors to family firms such as accountants, attorneys, bankers, insurance providers, and financial services professionals may develop a better understanding of their clients. Suppliers to family businesses will gain insight to this important business customer. Much of the literature on family business is from the United States; an attempt has been made to present relevant international information, as well. Chapter one defines a family business and provides an overview of family business. Chapter two explores the many differences between a family owned business and a nonfamily owned business. Chapter three explores the major family business theories. Chapter four discusses how family firms make business decisions. Chapter five explores the significant issues prevalent in a family firm. Chapter six explores the most problematic issue in family firms: succession or the transfer of ownership to the next generation. Chapter seven explores the many differences among the generations of a family firm. Chapter eight presents information on family business strategic planning. Chapter nine focuses on effective family business governance and use of advisors and boards. Chapter ten explores key success tips for long lasting family firms. Chapter eleven discusses trends in family business. Chapter twelve contains key points for family business professionals and suppliers who target or service family firms. Chapter thirteen presents areas for future research to advance the study of family business.

This innovative textbook covers the most important managerial challenges facing family businesses. It is research-based and includes theory and practice along with concepts, cases and reflection questions to illustrate the key topics.

An exceptional new work on family business, showing how to maintain a balanced relationship between the family and the company, and ensure satisfactory business results. This roadmap helps the reader to build better managed and more stable family firms.

This exciting Research Agenda expertly addresses the question: What will be important within the family business field and for family businesses in practice over the next decade? Top international contributors explore farsighted theories, methods and topics, often taking a multi-disciplinary approach in order to outline the potential routes for further advancing family business research. Chapters cover the significance of new family trends, entrepreneurial legacy, board diversity, spatial-familiness, corruption, innovation and digital business transformation, challenging core assumptions surrounding the family business phenomenon and mapping the future of the discipline.

Family businesses are the most common business form in the world, ranging from the millions of small local businesses to giants such as Walmart. This book showcases the crucial contribution that family businesses make to the world economy, and informs students of the existing and potential research in this area. Drawing upon global academic research and case studies, theories of family businesses are explained and prevailing myths and assumptions are tested. Features including exercises linked to case studies develop skills in applying theories in practice. This concise textbook is essential reading for students of family business and useful additional reading for those interested in entrepreneurship more broadly.

Corporate reputation is important in gaining long-term competitive advantage and building company value. Thus, the author points out the need to manage reputation, which, due to its complex nature and multidimensional character, is a serious and difficult challenge. The author develops a strategic model for family business reputation management. The book presents the review, systematization and synthesis of views on the notion of reputation and its role in building company value, the determinants of reputation; the identification of the characteristics and distinguishing factors of family businesses, areas of reputation building and resources involved in family business reputation building processes; and the description of determinants, components and processes in the field of corporate reputation management, and the identification of key links between them. It also identifies the key elements of the concept of family business reputation management and the relationship between them and practical recommendations for the use of reputation management concepts in improving the functioning of family businesses. The developed model can undoubtedly be seen as a pioneering contribution to research into the competitiveness of enterprises. The book will therefore be useful to researchers, students and managers who are interested in decision-making in family businesses, entrepreneurship and small business management, and leadership studies.