Inside an African family business estate: the founder’s legacy and the successor’s dilemma

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zubaida Muhumed ◽  
Virginia Bodolica ◽  
Martin Spraggon
Keyword(s):  
Family Business ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Eastern Region ◽  
Ripple Effect ◽  
Strategic Choices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Family

Subject area Family business. Study level/applicability Specialized undergraduate courses, Elective MBA courses. Case overview This case study uncovers the remarkable story of the relentless growth and sporadic weakening of Nurul Ain (NA) Limited, a family business conglomerate with major operations in the Eastern region of Africa. The case provides an opportunity to follow the different stages of development of this family-owned organization through a sequence of strategic events and family dynamics that led to its recurrent success, decline and rejuvenation. Despite the numerous successes of NA Limited since its establishment in the early 1990s, the ambiguous relationship between family, ownership and management systems has caused a ripple effect of strategic, structural and governance challenges that threaten the sustainability of the family business. Nowadays, the founder faces the pressing challenge of ensuring his legacy remains intact and is passed over to his chosen successor, who, in turn, is confronted with the dilemma of joining the family business or pursing an independent career outside NA Limited. Shedding light on the complexity of today’s family-run organizations, the case allows examining the effectiveness of strategic decision-making in an emerging market context by applying a variety of family business principles, theories and frameworks. Expected learning outcomes Discuss the sources of competitive advantage and the typical challenges that family firms face in the context of emerging markets. Perform a comprehensive corporate diagnosis and examine the specificities of strategic management process in family businesses. Assess the succession management practices in family-run organizations and design a profile of successful successor. Discuss the effectiveness of various corporate governance mechanisms in the context of family-owned enterprises. Evaluate the strategic choices of the top management team and offer recommendations for securing the family business longevity. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy.

Limits to psychological ownership in the family business

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wouter Broekaert ◽  
Bart Henssen ◽  
Johan Lambrecht ◽  
Koenraad Debackere ◽  
Petra Andries
Keyword(s):  
Family Business ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Psychological Ownership ◽  
Operational Control ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Additional Insight ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Family ◽  
And Control

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the sense of control, psychological ownership and motivation of both family owners and non-family managers in family firms are interrelated. This paper analyzes the limits set by family owners when delegating control to their non-family managers and the resulting potential for conflict and demotivation of the non-family managers. Design/methodology/approach Building on the existing literature, first, an overview of the literature on psychological ownership and control is presented. Second, the paper analyzes the insights gained from interviews with 15 family owners and non-family managers in five family firms. Findings This study finds that motivating non-family managers is not merely a matter of promoting a sense of psychological ownership throughout the company. A strong sense of psychological ownership may facilitate but also hinder the cooperation between family and non-family. Family owners are often only willing to delegate operational control, while non-family managers also feel entitled to participate in strategic decision making. This leads to the proposition that non-family managers’ psychological ownership in family firms’ conflicts with family owners’ desire to maintain control. Originality/value This study answers the calls to seek additional insight in how non-family managers function within family firms. By shedding light on the complex relationship between control, psychological ownership and motivation in family firms, the study responds to the calls for more empirical validation of the psychological ownership framework and for more research into the potential negative effects of psychological ownership in the family business.

The effects of goals attainment on CEO-owner satisfaction and the role of family involvement

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-127
Author(s):  
Ondřej Machek ◽  
Jiří Hnilica
Keyword(s):  
Family Involvement ◽  
Family Business ◽  
Firm Value ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Goals ◽  
Growth Increase ◽  
The Family ◽  
Owner Satisfaction

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how the satisfaction with economic and non-economic goals achievement is related to the overall satisfaction with the business of the CEO-owner, and whether family involvement moderates this relationship. Design/methodology/approach Based on a survey among 323 CEO-owners of family and non-family businesses operating in the Czech Republic, the authors employ the OLS hierarchical regression analysis and test the moderating effects of family involvement on the relationship between the satisfaction with different goals attainment and the overall satisfaction with the business. Findings The main finding is that family and non-family CEO-owner’s satisfaction does not differ significantly when economic goals (profit maximisation, sales growth, increase in market share or firm value) and firm-oriented non-economic goals (satisfaction of employees, corporate reputation) are being achieved; both classes of goals increase the overall satisfaction with the firm and the family involvement does not strengthen this relationship. However, when it comes to external non-economic goals related to the society or environment, there is a significant and positive moderating effect of family involvement. Originality/value The study contributes to the family business literature. First, to date, most of the studies focused on family business goals have been qualitative, thus not allowing for generalisation of findings. Second, there is a lack of evidence on the ways in which family firms integrate their financial and non-financial goals. Third, the authors contribute to the literature on the determinants of personal satisfaction with the business for CEOs, which has been the focus on a relatively scarce number of studies.

“We are a family firm”

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Binz Astrachan ◽  
Isabel C. Botero
Keyword(s):  
Family Business ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Family Firm ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Public Companies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Building ◽  
Depth Interview ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Associations

Purpose Evidence suggests that some stakeholders perceive family firms as more trustworthy, responsible, and customer-oriented than public companies. To capitalize on these positive perceptions, owning families can use references about their family nature in their organizational branding and marketing efforts. However, not all family firms actively communicate their family business brand. With this in mind, the purpose of this paper is to investigate why family firms decide to promote their “family business brand” in their communication efforts toward different stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach Data for this study were collected using an in-depth interview approach from 11 Swiss and German family business owners. Interviews were transcribed and coded to identify different themes that help explain the different motives and constraints that drive their decisions to promote the “family business brand.” Findings The analyses indicate that promoting family associations in branding efforts is driven by both identity-related (i.e. pride, identification) and outcome-related (e.g. reputational advantages) motives. However, there are several constraints that may negatively affect the promotion of the family business brand in corporate communication efforts. Originality/value This paper is one of the first to explore why family businesses decide to communicate their “family business brand.” Building on the findings, the authors present a conceptual framework identifying the antecedents and possible consequences of promoting a family firm brand. This framework can help researchers and practitioners better understand how the family business nature of the brand can influence decisions about the company’s branding and marketing practices.

The innovation and internationalisation processes of family businesses

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vitor Braga ◽  
Aldina Correia ◽  
Alexandra Braga ◽  
Sofia Lemos
Keyword(s):  
Family Business ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Family Businesses ◽  
Family Management ◽  
Multivariate Statistic ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Innovation ◽  
The Family ◽  
Internationalisation Strategies ◽  
Innovation Processes

Purpose The success of the family firms cannot be detached from the current paradigm where, within the present economic conditions, economic agents struggle to exploit the existing opportunities and need to take into account the risks associated to the international arena and the innovation processes. The internationalisation and innovation processes may trigger resistance within family business due to their relatively higher difficulty to take risks and to invest in industries outside the scope of their original core business. Innovation and internationalisation processes become relevant strategies for the family firms’ continuity and success. In line with such fact, the aim of this paper is to contribute with insights regarding the processes of innovation and internationalisation within family businesses. In particular, this paper aims to assess the propensity of such firms to apply such strategies, to identify the particular business behaviour and to assess the extent to which the particulars of family firms may constraint or lead to the implementation of innovation policies, and thus its internationalisation. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected through questionnaires within family business aiming to understand the scope and characteristics of internationalisation and innovation processes within these firms. The 154 replies from such data collection were analysed using different multivariate statistic procedures, although this paper is based on factorial and correlation analysis. Findings The analysis of the results shows that there is an association between the processes of innovation and internationalisation within family business. In addition, the results also suggest a typology of firms regarding their innovation and internationalisation strategies and motivations. Research limitations/implications The results of this paper are, to some extent, limited because they did not allow comparing the findings with data from non-family business. However, the authors’ aim was not to distinguish family firms, but rather to characterise them. Practical implications This paper expects to contribute with lessons for the management of family business and to raise awareness of the constraints faced by family business. It is important to highlight that family business performance may be affected by a lower propensity to risk-taking attitudes, by the lack of non-family management and to the necessity of separating the family and the business in the business dimensions that the family limits the business growth. Originality/value Although there is a significant amount of the literature devoted to explore family business, innovation and internationalisation studies, very few draw on the relationship between internationalisation and innovation processes within family business. This paper explores such a relationship within a particular business context – the family dynamics that strongly affect management and business development.

Does family involvement matter post IPO? Adding value through advertising in family firms

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 218-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atanas Nik Nikolov ◽  
Yuan Wen
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Family Involvement ◽  
Family Business ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Family Firm ◽  
Family Businesses ◽  
Publicly Traded ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Family

PurposeThis paper brings together research on advertising, family business, and the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm to examine performance differences between publicly traded US family vs non-family firms. The purpose of this paper is to understand the heterogeneity of family vs non-family firm advertising after such firms become publicly traded.Design/methodology/approachThe authors draw on the RBV of the firm, as well as on extensive empirical literature in family business and advertising research to empirically examine the differences between family and non-family firms in terms of performance.FindingsUsing panel data from over 2,000 companies across ten years, this research demonstrates that family businesses have higher advertising intensity than competitors, and achieve higher performance returns on their advertising investments, relative to non-family competitors. The results suggest that the “familiness” of public family firms is an intangible resource that, when combined with their advertising investments, affords family businesses a relative advantage compared to non-family businesses.Research limitations/implicationsFamily involvement in publicly traded firms may contribute toward a richer resource endowment and result in creating synergistic effects between firm “familiness” and the public status of the firm. The paper contributes toward the RBV of the firm and the advertising literature. Limitations include the lack of qualitative data to ground the findings and potential moderating effects.Practical implicationsUnderstanding how family firms’ advertising spending influences their consequent performance provides new information to family firms’ owners and management, as well as investors. The authors suggest that the “familiness” of public family firms may provide a significant advantage over their non-family-owned competitors.Social implicationsThe implications for society include that the family firm as an organizational form does not need to be relegated to a second-class citizen status in the business world: indeed, combining family firms’ characteristics within a publicly traded platform may provide firm performance benefits which benefit the founding family and other stakeholders.Originality/valueThis study contributes by highlighting the important influence of family involvement on advertising investment in the public family firm, a topic which has received limited attention. Second, it also integrates public ownership in family firms with the family involvement–advertising–firm performance relationship. As such, it uncovers a new pathway through which the family effect is leveraged to increase firm performance. Third, this study also contributes to the advertising and resource building literatures by identifying advertising as an additional resource which magnifies the impact of the bundle of resources available to the public family firm. Fourth, the use of an extensive panel data set allows for a more complex empirical investigation of the inherently dynamic relationships in the data and thus provides a contribution to the empirical stream of research in family business.

What hampers innovation in Mexican family firms?

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Concepción López-Fernández ◽  
Ana María Serrano-Bedia ◽  
Manuel Palma-Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Family Business ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Innovation Activity ◽  
Family Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Family ◽  
Mexican Family ◽  
Market Factors

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore to what extent different obstacles (financial, knowledge, market, and perception) affect the propensity of Mexican family firms to engage in innovation activity. Second, it examines whether the perception of these obstacles differs between two subgroups of family firms, considering levels of ownership and family management control. Design/methodology/approach Information was gathered through a CIS methodology-based questionnaire applied to 161 CEOs of Mexican family firms. Binomial logistic regressions were performed identifying obstacles that were truly relevant for the family firm subgroups in the sample. Findings For subgroup 1, knowledge and market factors were significant and negatively related to the propensity to engage in innovation activities; for subgroup 2, only market factors were relevant. The results also show how the tenure of the CEO, the number of generations involved, and the family involvement in management and non-management positions affect the results obtained. Practical implications Implications for family business scholars embrace the assessment criteria of different family business definitions. While the implications for managers and policy makers include the recognition of the factors that affect innovation in Mexican family firms in order to design and implement adequate strategies to overcome them. Originality/value This study addresses some of the raised demands in the literature. First, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first attempt to explore the factors hampering innovation in family firms in Latin America. Second, this study was undertaken in response to the call for exploring variations in innovation behavior across different family business types in regards to ownership and family management control. Moreover, this study responds to the call to analyze financial and non-financial factors separately and to expand the geographical areas, sectors, and sizes of family firms, more specifically in Latin America.

Passing the baton

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 35-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Drury
Keyword(s):  
Family Business ◽  
Succession Planning ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Panel Discussion ◽  
Psychological Impact ◽  
Food Group ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
The Family

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to consider the factors affecting the success of succession planning in family businesses. Design/methodology/approach The study reports on a panel discussion in which the former chairman of the William Jackson Food Group describes the processes put in place to manage succession at this family firm and his own experience of handing over to his successor. Findings Once upon a time, saying that you were going into the family business marked the end of any career discussion. Now it’s just the beginning – interest in family firms has never been greater. Succession planning is a subject guaranteed to generate questions – everyone wants to know how to get it right. Fortunately, it’s an area where some are happy to share their experience. Research limitations/implications The paper highlights the need for more longitudinal research on family firms. Practical implications This paper provides a practical guide to structures and processes that can facilitate succession planning in family firms. Social implications It draws attention to the emotional and psychological impact of succession on the retiring individual and the need to create life structures to replace former business involvement. Originality/value This paper aims to present a frank discussion of the approach to succession planning taken by one family business and the broader research questions that it raises.

The Early Entrepreneurial Stage in Finnish Family and Nonfamily Firms

2000 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannu Littunen ◽  
Kimmo Hyrsky
Keyword(s):  
Family Business ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Strategic Choices ◽  
Business Services ◽  
Start Up ◽  
The Family ◽  
Unrealistic Expectations

This study examined factors influencing the survival and success of 200 Finnish family and nonfamily firms in the metal-based manufacturing industry and business services over the first three years of their operation. The features that this study reviewed include owner-manager personality attributes, entrepreneurial competence, and motives for the start-up. Strategic choices of the firms were also examined. The study found that family firms were better equipped to survive beyond the early entrepreneurial stage than were nonfamily businesses. The entrepreneurial abilities and resources of the family business owners enabled them to operate relatively successfully in the nearby market, often with one unique product. The family firms were more conscious of survival and family well-being than profitability or market position. A higher mortality rate was discovered among the nonfamily firms. Failed firms were often established with unrealistic expectations, and their performance deteriorated rapidly after their early success.

Socio-emotional wealth and family: revisiting the connection

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 288-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Schulze
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Family Business ◽  
Operations Management ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Research Focus ◽  
Family Dynamic ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Family ◽  
Complex Relationships

Purpose In this commentary, the author aims to question whether the socio-emotional wealth (SEW) construct should be limited to family firms by noting that non-family owners and founders, i.e. those who yet have to involve family in their enterprise‘s operations, management or ownership, are also motivated to maximize their socioemotional wealth. Design/methodology/approach The concept of SEW has generated significant traction in the family business literature and motivated an important body of work about how SEW alters decision-making in family firms. Professors Martin and Gomez–Mejia (this issue) extend past contributions by teasing apart complex relationships among the underlying dimensions of the construct. However, the domain of that paper, as well as the SEW construct, has heretofore been limited to family firms. The author builds his commentary on the work of Martin and Gomez–Mejia (this issue) to argue that the notion that SEW shapes decision-making in the owner controlled and owner-managed non-family firms, as well as family firms. Findings The author’s overarching conclusion is that there are several dimensions in which family interests materially alter decision-making but others in which family likely plays a moderating and possibly even a suppressor role. The surprising implication is that it may not be SEW per se that distinguishes family firms from non-family firms but rather how the family dynamic alters the influence of SEW on outcomes of interest. Originality/value Acknowledging that personal and familial SEW have a common foundation allows one to sharpen the research focus and shift it from questions about how SEW might alter decision-making in family firms to questions about how the presence of family members alters the influence of SEW on decision-making in owner-controlled and owner-managed firms. This commentary explicates the argument and offers some suggestions about how this re-framing might allow for the extension of the SEW concept from the family firm to its influence on founder-managed and non-family firms.

Entrepreneurial behavior of family firms in the Indian community: adoption of a technology platform as a moderator

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheshadri Chatterjee ◽  
Ranjan Chaudhuri ◽  
Demetris Vrontis
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Planning ◽  
Family Business ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Business Community ◽  
Entrepreneurial Behavior ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Technology Platform ◽  
Indian Family ◽  
The Family ◽  
Digital Entrepreneurship

Purpose This study aims to investigate the generalizability of Daniela Weismeier-Sammer’s (2011) replication study on entrepreneurial behavior and extended the model by considering the adoption of a technology platform as a moderator in the Indian family entrepreneurship community. Design/methodology/approach The earlier replication study was conducted in Austria, and this one has been conducted in India with 372 respondents of Indian family firms. The study has used the structural equation modeling technique for analysis purposes. The study has also used multi-group analysis for understanding the moderator impact. Findings Willingness to change, generational involvement, perceived technological opportunities and corporate entrepreneurship for the Indian family business community, along with strategic planning, as a moderating factor, formed the earlier model. In the context of strategic planning, this study observes a similarity, but due to the consideration of the additional moderator, the role of generational involvement has become insignificant. Research limitations/implications This study adds value to the overall body of literature on the family business community, digital entrepreneurship and technology adoption in the family business community. The study provides valuable inputs on the digital entrepreneurship and family business firms which could be used by entrepreneurs, policymakers and practitioners for different purposes. The sample size is small and India specific so the proposed model cannot be generalizable. Originality/value This study has used replication and validation techniques in the digital entrepreneurship community and new venture creation in the Indian context. Very few studies have explored the digital entrepreneurship phenomenon in the Indian family business community context. Also, the use of adoption of technology platform as a moderator enhances the model from the earlier study. Thus, this study is deemed to be a unique research study.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document