Stakeholder Support In Family Businesses

Many family businesses fail during succession and sometimes they do because the successor is not granted the legitimacy by primary stakeholders of the company. But what does it take to be a legitimate successor in the eyes of these audiences? Are there different dimensions of legitimacy? And if so, do different stakeholder groups value the different dimensions of legitimacy differently? This book expands our knowledge of the origin and impact of a successor’s legitimacy in family owned businesses after succession. By analyzing a successor’s legitimacy on five dimensions, this work detects whether primary stakeholder groups’ decisions, to continuously provide their resources to family businesses after succession, depend on their perceived legitimacy of the successor and differ depending on the group the stakeholder belongs to. This book helps to understand why some successors are more successful than others in reassuring important resources to the company. Moreover, it helps successor candidates to identify which information they should signal toward a particular stakeholder group and how much weight should be attached to different claims and expectations. The findings of this book are based on an innovative paper-based policy-capturing analysis with family members, employees of family businesses and bankers. The participants of the experiment assessed more than 3,400 decisions to allocate further resources to the family business after succession depending on their legitimacy judgment.

​Despite broad anecdotal evidence, little is known about the antecedents and outcomes of stakeholder trust when dealing with a family business. The topic has received little systematic attention, which is surprising given its importance as a potential competitive advantage for family businesses and the influence of family businesses in many markets around the world. In his dissertation, Hannes Hauswald tries to address this gap. In the course of three essays, he explores what drives stakeholder trust when dealing with family businesses. Furthermore, he sheds light on the outcomes of stakeholder trust for family businesses and relevant contingency factors.

Building on past research in the broad field of stakeholder management and entrepreneurship, this book pushes a new agenda for more effective stakeholder engagement and management in entrepreneurial firms in Africa. Adomako, Gyensare, and Ahsan provide a novel lens for entrepreneurs to manage stakeholders in Africa and a sense of current best practices. Issues discussed include how external stakeholders such as government, nongovernmental organizations, media, civil society organizations, and local institutions influence the core business operations of entrepreneurial firms. The book confronts the central challenge of entrepreneurship by providing a comprehensive understanding of how entrepreneurs could identify, select, enroll, and coordinate stakeholders. In addition, it assesses issues such as stakeholder influence on corporate social responsibility strategy, sustainability, and environmental management of entrepreneurial firms. An essential read for postgraduate students, researchers, and public and private analysts.

​This book presents the reader a comprehensive understanding of the development of family business in transitional economies. Throughout eastern Europe, post-Communist countries transitioning to market-based economies are obtaining a variety of results due to diverse policy approaches. Expert contributions in this book draw from a wealth of information in this context and include thought-provoking policy prescriptions for the future. This book concentrates on the challenges to predict the direction emerging markets will take, particularly when dealing with the wide-ranging social and economic situations taking place in post-Communist Eastern Europe. This reference volume for policymakers, educators, investors, and researchers also provides a much-needed and timely survey of family firms in the transitioning markets of post-Communist Europe.

The SAGE Handbook of Family Business captures the conceptual map and state-of-the-art thinking on family business - an area experiencing rapid global growth in research and education since the last three decades. Edited by the leading figures in family business studies, with contributions and editorial board support from the most prominent scholars in the field, this Handbook reflects on the development and current status of family enterprise research in terms of applied theories, methods, topics investigated, and perspectives on the field's future. The SAGE Handbook of Family Business is divided into following six sections, allowing for ease of navigation while gaining a multi-dimensional perspective and understanding of the field. Part I: Theoretical perspectives in family business studies Part II: Major issues in family business studies Part III: Entrepreneurial and managerial aspects in family business studies Part IV: Behavioral and organizational aspects in family business studies Part V: Methods in use in family business studies Part VI: The future of the field of family business studies By including critical reflections and presenting possible alternative perspectives and theories, this Handbook contributes to the framing of future research on family enterprises around the world. It is an invaluable resource for current and future scholars interested in understanding the unique dynamics of family enterprises under the rubric of entrepreneurship, strategic management, organization theory, accounting, marketing or other related areas.

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 book is the first of its kind to highlight the importance of family businesses to economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa. It examines the managerial, behavioral, and strategic issues facing these companies and offers conclusive statements about their performance and influence on the region. Family businesses have been found to outperform non-family businesses in advanced industrialized economies, yet no such information exists on the importance of these companies which dominate the economic landscape of sub-Saharan Africa. Through empirical evidence and cross-country data, a team of expert contributors explore matters related to the management of family-owned businesses, such as how they evaluate employee productivity and performance, manage human resources, view governance practices and the role of women, and other sensitive issues. This is a seminal text for students and researchers in family business, entrepreneurship, strategic management, and family business owners looking to improve and advance their companies for the greater good of sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the continent.

Wise Family Business aims to help families in business to identify new and better ways of achieving longevity, sustainability and performance. The book presents ground-breaking new insights and practical examples from a range of growing family businesses in which the owning families are visible and, in most cases, have branded the business with their family name. This comprehensive and important study explores how family identity has the power to tie together families in business and leverage their values when developing and sharing the owner’s vision with their stakeholder communities. Developing a family business identity is key when building and managing an authentic, recognizable and trusted brand. It argues that family businesses that have successfully translated strong identities into strong brands are not only perceived as attractive employers but also add meaningful value to the business over generations.