Sustainability addresses environmental and social issues affecting this and future generations. When family businesses perceive that the community is disrupted, recognize an environmental problem and ...respond by implementing new environmental policies or regulations, the family business’s socio-emotional values press to transition to a more sustainable production system, such as the ‘Circular Economy.’ Drawing on the Dubin (1978) methodology—a paradigm for building models through deduction—we design a sustainable model, which shows family businesses’ responses to changes in the environment. It explains the reasons why family firms transition to the Circular Economy, based on the theory of Socio-Emotional Wealth (SEW). We check the model through the case study of the food retail leader in the Spanish market—Mercadona—which applies policies about energy, resources and waste to become a Circular Economy business model. Because of the strong family character of Mercadona, this case can be useful for the decision-making of other family businesses.
Purpose
The primary aim is to renew academic discourse on financial education in business families. It emphasizes the need for effective financial literacy programs to foster a healthier relationship ...with money, addressing both technical aspects of finance and its psychological and relational impacts among family members.
Design/methodology/approach
This perspective article explores the impact of money education within business families. It discusses the psychological effects of money education on family dynamics and decision-making in family businesses. The research draws on previous studies, surveys and practical examples to highlight the importance of financial education and its implications on family and business sustainability.
Findings
Financial education is essential in business families as it enables more meaningful discussions on money and wealth, fostering informed decisions and decreasing conflict. Yet, it is often overlooked. There is a need for academic research into effective strategies for financial education for family members and the effects of financial literacy, or its absence, on various aspects of the business and the family system. The article presents a selection of pertinent questions for future research in this domain.
Originality/value
This article contributes to the family business field by underscoring the gap in scholarly research on money education within family businesses. It advocates for comprehensive financial education strategies that balance technical knowledge with an understanding of the psychological and relational aspects of money.
Extant literature suggests that family firms, due to their desire to retain family control, have a lower propensity to diversify than non-family firms. Contrarily, family business groups (FBGs), ...especially Asian FBGs, are widely diversified. It was anticipated that FBGs would become more focused during reforms in developing economies. However, these FBGs did not only maintain their diversified portfolio of businesses but also enter newly deregulated sectors during reforms. This paper draws insights from transaction cost theory and knowledge governance literature to investigate this paradox. This paper argues that the family-based governance mechanisms of FBGs can efficiently manage their diversified portfolio by avoiding the “negatives” associated with market-based exchanges and creating “positives” by efficient knowledge sharing among affiliates. Thus, diversification strategies allowed Indian FBGs to create value and preserve the socioemotional and psychic wealth that comes from owning various businesses.
•Unlike North American family firms, which are “focused,” Asian FBGs are widely diversified at the group-level.•Persistent presence of these “diversified” FBGs during economic reforms defy the theoretical prediction of “focusing”.•Family-based governance structure creates value as an avoider of “negatives” associated with market mechanisms, and creates “positives” by efficient knowledge sharing.•Family-level diversification not only create financial wealth but also enhance the emotional and psychic wealth that comes from owning a variety of businesses.
Building a family business brand allows family firms to leverage a valuable idiosyncratic resource: their family nature (we are a family business). But, this is only possible if the owning family ...decides to reveal a family firm image (we want others to know that we are a family business). Family firms largely vary in that regard: While some family firms do strongly emphasize a family firm image, others do so at a lower level or not at all. Accordingly, this study applies mixed methods exploring and testing antecedents of the degree of revealing the family nature of the business in the context of German Mittelstand firms. In study 1, we develop hypotheses for the antecedents of that important managerial decision based on the family business literature as well as interviews with family firm executives. In study 2, we collect data (N = 196) from family firm CEOs to test our hypotheses. Results show that out of eleven antecedents, seven are significantly related to the degree of communicating a family firm image. For example, the tradition orientation of the enterprising family or the number of major business partners being family firms is positively linked to the degree of revealing the family nature, while innovation intensity of the industry or the degree of internationalization of the family firm show a negative relationship with communicating a stronger family firm image. A supplementary exploration of the link between gradual revelation of the family nature and performance on brand and firm level further serves as an inspiration for future research.
PurposeThe aim of this paper is to verify whether, in the tourism sector, the “family business model” is an important development opportunity and, in particular, if it is an innovation driver for ...this industry development. In the literature, there is no conclusive evidence of this for the tourism sector. In this context, the authors investigate personal and family needs and preferences alongside the relationship between family business model, growth and profit maximization and the development of tourism businesses through innovation drivers.Design/methodology/approachTo develop this topic, the authors conducted an extensive literature review considering the scientific papers published and contained mainly in database in the last 10 years (2010–2020) and focused the attention on the last five years. The authors ran content and structural analysis on the collected sources by main scientific databases (EBSCO, Scopus, Thomson Reuter, etc.). Based on a systematic literature review, the analysis was conducted using statistical criteria and bibliometric indicators. In detail, the authors used systematic literature review, bibliometric analysis and automatic text analysis (ATA) tools for identified lexicon analysis and strategic keywords and used statistical correlation to classify the different approaches in the literature and to outline the orientations of the various research groups.FindingsFrom this analysis, the correlation between tourism, hospitality, entrepreneurship, life cycle and innovation dynamics was analysed. Important research gaps are identified, and future research priorities are suggested. Implications for both family business and tourism theory are discussed.Originality/valueWhile the intersection between tourism management and family business model has been established in the literature, the number of related publications is still limited. Against this background, a literature review as a total analysis was an adequate and practicable research methodology. This paper proposes a comprehensive literature review and a reflection on the potential developments and applications for family business in the tourism sector. Authors also suggest several research directions that have not been adequately investigated yet. In particular, scholars do not seem to have caught all the implications of innovation adoption, especially for SMEs and family ownerships in tourism.
One of the main challenges facing those researching family business is that of defining what exactly constitutes a family business when considering whether family businesses and non-family businesses ...are different or not. Most research on the definition of family firms has been conceptual-based, and the choice of definition has lacked empirical support. Previous research has not yet obtained conclusive results regarding the differences between family and non-family firms. Moreover, very few countries worldwide have explicit database information to enable them to recognize family firms. This research uses an abductive method to identify family-involved firms (FIFs) with homogeneous features compared to the rest of firms regarding performance, an essential indicator of the firm’s success. Second and later generation FIFs, despite their internal differences, make up a uniform group of firms when considering several dimensions of performance (leverage, efficiency and profitability), and differ significantly from the rest of firms. At the same time we test whether entrepreneurial firms (lone- founder firms) should be considered family firms or non-family firms, according to their behavior. Results agree with making a distinction between lone-founder firms, in which no relatives are involved as internal stakeholders, and FIFs.
One of the key elements for family business success lies in the fact that they are being perceived as companies' part of the community with an approachable image, projecting a human figure, and ...contributing to the local economy. Nowadays, brands are not only offering functional but also emotional benefits, seeking to be distinguished as generating positive experiences. Family businesses are being associated with the socially emerging values of modern branding. Family companies have been traditionally recognized for their trustworthiness and integrity, but now they must pay more attention to their image and to develop an intelligent strategy to protect it and the company's reputation since it is an intangible asset, recognized and assessed by the stakeholders. The family business image and reputation are influencing the companies both financial and non-financial factors, these relations being the subject of several studies. This paper's purpose is to explore the knowledge surrounding these constructs and to integrate the findings into a more comprehensive model of the influencing factors and their relationships.
Although studies of social networks in family businesses have proliferated into a sizable literature, the research remains fragmented into disparate strands that lack theoretical coherence. By ...applying an inductive coding process to 69 articles published in 29 high-impact journals from 1988 to 2020, this review summarizes, synthesizes, and highlights the contributions of social network studies to family business research. Drawing on these results, the review specifically identifies prevailing themes in the literature and outlines a platform for future research. Furthermore, this paper discusses the most important theoretical mechanisms underpinning the connection between heterogeneous family and non-family network ties and family firm outcomes. Overall, it is observed that network structure, social capital, and family firm-specific network content act as key mechanisms linking family firm networks to performance outcomes.
Plain English Summary
According to our review of the literature, the social capital that comes from networks of family relationships is both a key advantage and a potential disadvantage of family firms. The relationships among family members enable the development and sharing of experiential knowledge, strengthen communications and trust, and provide access to human, physical, and financial resources. However, when taken to excess, these relationships can deny family members in the firm access to external knowledge and resources as well as lead to entrenchment and narrow strategic thinking. In this review, we discuss how these aspects of social networks and social capital influence entrepreneurial activities, firm governance and strategy, organizational decision-making, and firm growth.
Purpose
This research aims to better understand the factors and determinants that shape the job satisfaction of European family business owners.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a ...unique sample of 11,362 European family business owners surveyed within the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU LFS) framework, and the main findings were obtained by estimating ordered logistic regression models.
Findings
The authors show that only 26.8% of European family business owners are women, which underlines the gender imbalance in family business ownership, and the authors' results also report that their job satisfaction is significantly lower compared to males. The authors also find the highest job satisfaction amongst family business owners with master-level degrees and point out several interesting statistically significant differences across the industry focus of the family business.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the body of knowledge on the job satisfaction of family business owners by conducting a large-scale study based on a statistically representative sample of European respondents.
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