Summary
Numerous articles have focused on the activities, planning processes, and effectiveness of large firms. However, in recent years a growing amount of research has recognized the importance of small family-owned businesses. This special attention has been reinforced by studies showing that family businesses have particular attributes that provide them certain competitive advantages. They are nimbler, more customer-oriented and quality focused, and more active in the community. As a result, they tend to outperform non-family firms. This paper discusses five streams of research and writing about these companies. Some researchers have attempted to distinguish between family businesses and non-family businesses by developing conceptual and operational definitions. Others have focused on finding attributes that distinguish between the two groups. A third line of research has addressed the relationship between planning and performance among family businesses. A fourth area has examined strategic management in these firms. The fifth stream of research has focused on a variety of topics such as succession, gender, non-family employees, and innovation. These studies provide many important insights; however, significant gaps in the literature remain. Thus important extensions of these research streams would be fruitful endeavors. The paper concludes with a number of research questions that merit further study.
See the full content of this document
Extract
Strategic Management of Family Businesses: Current Findings and Directions for Future Research
Introduction
While a large body of the management literature has concentrated on large publicly-owned businesses, in recent years a growing amount of research attention has been devoted to small firms. These companies play an increasingly crucial role in the U.S. economy. Approximately 22.9 million of all U.S. firms are classified as small businesses. They represent 99.7 percent of all employers. They employ more than one-half of the U.S. private sector work force, are responsible for about one-half of private sector output, generate more than one-half of all sales in the U.S., and create approximately 75 percent of net new jobs annually. Furthermore, they employ 39 percent of hightechnology workers, and represent 97 percent of all exporters. It is estimated that 550,000 new small businesses were established in the U.S. in 2002 alone (U.S. Small Business Administration, 2005). These statistics suggest a critical need to improve our understanding of these firms and ensure that they are managed effectively.Since the 1980s there has been general agreement that a major weakness of many studies of small businesses is their "global" nature, i.e., treating all firms alike, despite the presence of meaningful differences among them. Furthermore, prior to that time, the family firm was viewed as inherently flawed; its survival required the replacement of family members by "professional management as quickly as possible" (Levinson, 1971, ...See the full content of this document
Sponsored links
