Fair Process: Striving for Justice in Family Business

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludo Van der Heyden ◽  
Christine Blondel ◽  
Randel S. Carlock
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Procedural Justice ◽  
Family Business ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Fair Process ◽  
Business System ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of

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.

Updating Systems Concepts in Family Businesses

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Distelberg ◽  
Ritch L. Sorenson
Keyword(s):  
Family Business ◽  
Family Businesses ◽  
Business Systems ◽  
Resource Flows ◽  
Business System ◽  
The Family ◽  
Resource Transfers ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Current Systems

This article extends and expands current systems views of family business and provides a framework for interpreting family business holistically . The framework extends the definition of family-first and business-first systems and adds three categories that typify the gradations of firms that represent balanced systems emphases. In addition, this article discusses the goals, resource transfers, strengths, and limitations of each type of system and describes how firm adaptability and resource flows influence and change these family business systems; it argues that to understand family business health, one must understand the values and goals that guide the family, business, and ownership systems, as well as the overall family business system; and it presents an inclusive definition of family and business based on systems membership.

scholarly journals National Determinants of Family Firm Development? Family Firms in Britain, Spain, and Italy in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

2003 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Colli ◽  
Paloma Fernández Pérez ◽  
Mary B. Rose
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Family Business ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Family Firm ◽  
Cultural Framework ◽  
The Family ◽  
Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Definition Of

We provide here a complement to recent work on family business, which has demonstrated the need to go beyond the generic definition of the family firm to place personal capitalism in an appropriate institutional, historical, and cultural framework. By focusing on the nineteenth‐ and twentieth‐century experiences in Britain, Spain, and Italy, we challenge the notion that in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries there was anything so simple as a Mediterranean model for family business. Rather, we demonstrate the need to consider family businesses in national and regional contexts if we are to understand their various capabilities and characteristics. We use similarities and differences in the experiences and responses of families and firms in the three countries to support this claim.

scholarly journals Ekonomický personalismus a politika KDU-ČSL

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (2–3) ◽  
pp. 196-217
Author(s):  
Ondřej Stulík
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
The Other ◽  
Metaphor Analysis ◽  
Progressive Taxation ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Social Market

This article deals with the phenomenon of economics in the doctrine of personalism and its consequences in the sphere of politics. Within this analysis, some economic distinctions between personalism, on the one hand, and libertarianism and neomarxism, on the other, are identified through a focus on the hermeneutics of personalism and its logical ideological results. These results have the form of testable propositions such as a pregnant definition of dignity, support for the concept of workfare, the family as the “core”, and the belief in the social market, which leads to progressive taxation and interventions in the labor market. These propositions are contained in KDU-ČSL policies, explicitly declared in the manifestos “Volební program 2010–2014”, “Volební program 2013–2017”, and other documents, as well as speeches of KDU-ČSL representatives, mainly of the chairman Pavel Bělobrádek. The connection between personalism and KDU-ČSL policies is then tested by metaphor analysis and the outcomes provide answers to two questions – first, whether the theory of personalism is present in KDU-ČSL policies; second, whether the KDU-ČSL could be subsumed under the socio-economic cleavage in the Czech context, and if so, then to which particular space.

Murder with Impunity: The Construction of Arab Masculinities and Honor Crimes

1970 ◽  
pp. 38-45
Author(s):  
May Abu Jaber
Keyword(s):  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Social Boundaries ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Media ◽  
The One ◽  
Male Authority ◽  
Cultural Networks ◽  
Gender Specific

Violence against women (VAW) continues to exist as a pervasive, structural,systematic, and institutionalized violation of women’s basic human rights (UNDivision of Advancement for Women, 2006). It cuts across the boundaries of age, race, class, education, and religion which affect women of all ages and all backgrounds in every corner of the world. Such violence is used to control and subjugate women by instilling a sense of insecurity that keeps them “bound to the home, economically exploited and socially suppressed” (Mathu, 2008, p. 65). It is estimated that one out of every five women worldwide will be abused during her lifetime with rates reaching up to 70 percent in some countries (WHO, 2005). Whether this abuse is perpetrated by the state and its agents, by family members, or even by strangers, VAW is closely related to the regulation of sexuality in a gender specific (patriarchal) manner. This regulation is, on the one hand, maintained through the implementation of strict cultural, communal, and religious norms, and on the other hand, through particular legal measures that sustain these norms. Therefore, religious institutions, the media, the family/tribe, cultural networks, and the legal system continually disciplinewomen’s sexuality and punish those women (and in some instances men) who have transgressed or allegedly contravened the social boundaries of ‘appropriateness’ as delineated by each society. Such women/men may include lesbians/gays, women who appear ‘too masculine’ or men who appear ‘too feminine,’ women who try to exercise their rights freely or men who do not assert their rights as ‘real men’ should, women/men who have been sexually assaulted or raped, and women/men who challenge male/older male authority.

Making gender visible in family business: past and present

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paloma Fernández Pérez ◽  
Eleanor Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Family Business ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Business Leadership ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Developed Economies ◽  
The Family ◽  
Interdisciplinary Synthesis ◽  
Complex Forms ◽  
Rules Of The Game

This  study  contributes  to  developing  our understanding of gender and family business. It draws on studies from the business history and management literatures and provides an interdisciplinary synthesis. It illuminates the role of women and their participation in the entrepreneurial practices of the family and the business. Leadership is introduced as a concept to examine the roles of women and men in family firms, arguing that concepts used  by  historians or economists like ownership and management have served to make women ‘invisible’, at least in western developed economies in which owners and managers have been historically due to legal rules  of  the  game  men,  and  minoritarily women. Finally, it explores gender relations and  the  notion  that  leadership  in  family business  may  take  complex  forms  crafte within constantly changing relationships.

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.

scholarly journals Beyond agency and stewardship theory: shareholder–manager relationships and governance structures in family firms

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Sophie K. Löhde ◽  
Giovanna Campopiano ◽  
Andrea Calabrò
Keyword(s):  
Social Exchange ◽  
Family Business ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Managerial Behavior ◽  
Exchange System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The One ◽  
Over Time

PurposeChallenging the static view of family business governance, we propose a model of owner–manager relationships derived from the configurational analysis of managerial behavior and change in governance structure.Design/methodology/approachStemming from social exchange theory and building on the 4C model proposed by Miller and Le Breton-Miller (2005), we consider the evolving owner–manager relationship in four main configurations. On the one hand, we account for family businesses shifting from a generalized to a restricted exchange system, and vice versa, according to whether a family manager misbehaves in a stewardship-oriented governance structure or a nonfamily manager succeeds in building a trusting relationship in an agency-oriented governance structure. On the other hand, we consider that family firms will strengthen a generalized exchange system, rather than a restricted one, according to whether a family manager contributes to the stewardship-oriented culture in the business or a nonfamily manager proves to be driven by extrinsic rewards. Four scenarios are analyzed in terms of the managerial behavior and governance structure that characterize the phases of the relationship between owners and managers.FindingsVarious factors trigger managerial behavior, making the firm deviate from or further build on what is assumed by stewardship and agency theories (i.e. proorganizational versus opportunistic behavior, respectively), which determine the governance structure over time. Workplace deviance, asymmetric altruism and patriarchy on the one hand, and proorganizational behavior, relationship building and long-term commitment on the other, are found to determine how the manager behaves and thus characterize the owner's reactions in terms of governance mechanisms. This enables us to present a dynamic view of governance structures, which adapt to the actual attitudes and behaviors of employed managers.Research limitations/implicationsAs time is a relevant dimension affecting individual behavior and triggering change in an organization, one must consider family business governance as being dynamic in nature. Moreover, it is not family membership that determines the most appropriate governance structure but the owner–manager relationship that evolves over time, thus contributing to the 4C model.Originality/valueThe proposed model integrates social exchange theory and the 4C model to predict changes in governance structure, as summarized in the final framework we propose.

“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.

scholarly journals Entrepreneurial orientation in family firms – management and intercultural development

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (4-1) ◽  
pp. 181-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wioletta Czemiel-Grzybowska
Keyword(s):  
Family Business ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Family System ◽  
Open Systems ◽  
Family Businesses ◽  
Intercultural Development ◽  
System Perspective ◽  
Business Context ◽  
Systems Perspective ◽  
Business System

AbstractThis paper has taken an insight to the systemic models of family business from the open systems perspective. I focus on family business system models and on the subsystems content of family system and ownership system in family business context. The paper claim that the open system perspective on intercultural family businesses has both theoretical and empirical implications on family business research. Family businesses have many reasons, including family conflicts over money, nepotism leading to wrong management, and infighting over the succession of power from one generation to the other. Regulating the family’s roles as shareholders, board members, and managers is very important because it can help avoid these pitfalls. This paper will discuss the importance of the openness of the company through five the attributes of enduring family businesses: ownership, family, business and portfolio governance, wealth management, foundation. Dimension of attributes success have taken family business like five jewelers.

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