Next-Generation Entrepreneurs and Succession: An Exploratory Study of Modes and Means of Managing Social Capital

2001 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lloyd Steier

Relationships and connectivity play an enhanced role in most models of the new economy. For many firms, strategic advantage resides in the social capital (or relational wealth) they are able to nourish and maintain. This important asset is accumulated over time and not easily traded or transferred. For family firms with long-term continuity goals, the transfer and management of this largely intangible asset are a most significant activity. This research is based on interviews of next-generation entrepreneurs in 18 different firms. It contributes to the family business and more general management literature by identifying different ways in which relational wealth is transferred, created, and managed. Four different modes of transferring social capital emerged from the data: unplanned, sudden succession; rushed succession; natural immersion; and planned succession and deliberate transfer of social capital. Additionally, seven means of managing social capital emerged: deciphering existing network structures, deciphering the transactional content of network relationships, determining criticalities, attaining legitimacy, clarifying optimal role, managing ties through delegation and division of labor, and striving for optimal network configuration and reconstituting network structure and content. This paper concludes with a series of propositions for further research.

Author(s):  
Andrzej Marjański ◽  
Łukasz Sułkowski ◽  
Justyna Marjańska-Potakowska ◽  
Katarzyna Staniszewska

Poland’s successful political, economic, and social transformation since the 1990s has seen the dynamic development of family enterprises. Most of them are in the small- and medium-sized enterprises sector and have become an important part of the Polish economy. What drives these family firms is not necessarily physical or even financial capital, but continuous human or social capital. We analyze how family businesses are based on the interdependence of family ownership and business with the social capital of the family. This article reflects on how the government, in encouraging small- and medium-sized enterprise development in an economy with traditionally low social capital, can benefit from the example of high social capital found in family firms. The article contains the interpretation of the results of research conducted in 2009–2010 and 2014–2016.


SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 215824402110223
Author(s):  
Jahanzaib Haider ◽  
Abdul Qayyum ◽  
Zalina Zainudin

This study analyzes the leverage policies of the family and non-family firms of eight East Asian Economies (Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Taiwan) by using combined data of 690 family and non-family firms with 3,224 firm–years over the period 2006–2010. This study has used an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression for analyzing the data for the first question, while for the second question, logit regression has been used as the dependent variable (a binary variable). Prior research on family and non-family firms has revealed that family firms issue less (high) debt than non-family firms. Our analysis on a sample of East Asian Economies discloses that family firms have significantly different leverage levels than non-family firms, but their signs are not consistent. On the contrary, when the owner works as CEO/Chairman or member of the Board of Directors, then the family firms issue less debt than the non-family firms. Besides that, this study adds a new question that has not been addressed in the prior studies. The new question has focused on the speed of leverage adjustment. It is found that family firms and non-family firms regarding their debt maturity structure (short-term debt and long-term debt), the speed of leverage adjustments, and their decision to issue securities (i.e., debt vs. equity) are not significantly different. This study concluded that though family firms have a strong influence on each economy, but in South-East Asian countries, leverage policies of the family firms are not much different than that of non-family firms.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Akif Cicek ◽  
Rüveyda Kelleci ◽  
Pieter Vandekerkhof

PurposeFamily governance mechanisms serve to govern and strengthen relations between the family and the business, as well as the relationships between the members of the business family itself. However, despite agreement on the importance of adopting family governance structures, explicit research on the determinants of family governance mechanisms is currently missing. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to uncover the determinants of family meetings. In order to do so, the social systems theory is used to unravel several determining factors of this crucial form of family governance mechanisms in private family firms.Design/methodology/approachThe authors perform a qualitative study by conducting semi-structured interviews in eight Belgian private family firms in order to discover the antecedents of the implementation of family meetings. The authors use a pattern-matching technique as an analytical strategy.FindingsThe findings of the study highlight the importance of “soft,” relational, qualitative issues as antecedents of family meetings as opposed to previous research on family governance, which predominantly focused on “hard,” quantitative measures (e.g. family ownership). The findings of the study also provide novel insights into the origins of the family component (i.e. family meetings) of family business governance.Originality/valueWhile the current literature has only focused on describing the different types of family governance and their positive consequences for the family firm, the authors take a step back to explain why family meetings, as a form of family governance, are adopted in the first place. Second, the authors demonstrate the instrumentality of the social systems theory in understanding the family's needs that necessitate the implementation of family governance mechanisms.


2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludo Van der Heyden ◽  
Christine Blondel ◽  
Randel S. Carlock

The social science and business literatures on procedural justice or fair process attest that improvements in procedural fairness can be expected to improve both a firm's performance and the commitment and trust of the individuals involved with it. This article examines the relevance of procedural justice for family business. When a family is an influential component of a particular business system, the application of justice is typically rendered more complex than might be the case for nonfamily firms. Different criteria (need, merit, and equality) guide the application of distributive justice among families, firms, and shareholders. This divergence in criterion also lies at the heart of many conflicts inside the family business. In this article, we argue that the application of procedural justice reduces occurrences of conflict and, in some cases, may eliminate conflict altogether. We propose a definition of fair process that extends and enriches the one existing in the literature. We offer five fundamental criteria essential to the effectiveness of fair process in family firms. We conclude with a series of case studies that illustrate typical questions faced inside family businesses. We show that a lack of fairness in the decision and managerial processes governing these businesses and their associated families is a source of conflict. We describe how increasing fair process practices improves the performance of these businesses while also increasing the satisfaction of those associated with them.


1999 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter S. Davis ◽  
Paula D. Harveston

This paper examines the extent to which conflict across generations of family firms is due to the effects of two independent variables—generation and generational shadow. The presence of a generational shadow was indicated by whether either or both of the parents continued to influence the company once the next generation assumed control. Hypotheses predicted nonlinear trends in conflict and interactions between generation and generational shadow. Using data from a national telephone survey of over 1,000 family business owners, the results of an ANOVA test confirmed that the presence of generational shadow, in particular, that of the founder, increases organizational conflict.


2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 874-903 ◽  
Author(s):  
JULIE BOWER

This article investigates a structural ownership model that is used to protect firms from unwelcome capital market intrusion: a multiple-share arrangement. It details the evolution of one of the United Kingdom’s most successful former family firms, Whitbread, in the post-World War II era. In investigating the formation and operation of the so-called Whitbread Umbrella, the study poses the question of whether it was a positive factor in long-term strategic decision making at Whitbread. The emerging popularity of multiple-share ownership structures in the United States, as well as their endurance in other jurisdictions, positions this historic analysis in wider debates on structure, ownership, and corporate governance in the finance, economics, and general management literature.


2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ritch L. Sorenson ◽  
Kenneth E. Goodpaster ◽  
Patricia R. Hedberg ◽  
Andy Yu

Based on the social capital, conflict, and ethics literatures, this study introduces a new concept, the family point of view, and provides theoretical arguments resulting in the following hypotheses: (a) The family point of view emerges from collaborative dialogue, which helps develop agreement to ethical norms; (b) the presence of ethical norms further helps cultivate family social capital; and (c) as a resource in a family business, family social capital is positively related to family firm performance. Using structural equation modeling, an exploratory test of 405 small family firms found support for all three hypotheses. The findings indicate a fully mediated relationship among collaborative dialogue, ethical norms, family social capital, and firm performance. The study not only highlights the importance of moral infrastructure in family firms but also helps clarify components of family social capital.


Author(s):  
Vilma Luoma-aho

<p align="justify">This paper discusses the concepts of stakeholder, reputation and social capital and their relevance forcorporations in modern society. The paper argues that there is a special demand for reputation managementin today’s corporate communications and public relations due to fragmented publics and stakeholders, as wellas to increased public interest in corporations. The introduction of real-time media has also imposed newdemands which corporations today must meet to survive. Different stakeholders possess the ability to benefitbut also to harm the corporations through corporate reputation. Cultivated stakeholder relations can beespecially beneficial to corporate reputation and long-term development, and the social ties that stakeholdersembody can even be seen as social capital for the corporation. A new concept of “Faith-holders” is alsopresented to better describe corporate social capital.<P>


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 194
Author(s):  
Galina V. Kolosova

The increase in life expectancy and the growth of the elderly population in the Russian Federation, including in St. Petersburg, dictates the need for changes in the areas of social services and health care. This is not surprising, aging today has become a global process that has different mechanisms of formation and differs by country and territory. But the sociological theoretical study of the topic of aging is still insufficient. European states rely on demographic trends, which determine a new approach to assessing the available resources, prospects for the development and improvement of social service systems in the direction of long-term care for the elderly. It is important, while maintaining continuity in the work of the social services established in the 1990s, to actively include the family, NGOs and volunteerism in the development of these institutions. The purpose of this article is to analyze the achievements and barriers to the institutional development of long - term care for the elderly in St. Petersburg. Methodically, the article is based on the analysis of legal acts regulating the development of long-term care, mainly in St. Petersburg. For the care system to take shape, it requires the participation of families, NGOs and volunteer resources, as well as the study of the best Russian and international experience.


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