scholarly journals Standing the test of time: External factors influencing family firm longevity in Germany and Spain during the twentieth century

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 221-264
Author(s):  
Maria Fernandez Moya ◽  
Paloma Fernandez-Perez ◽  
Christina Lubinski

While most research on family business longevity focuses on how internal corporate governance issue impact resilience, the aim of this article is to foreground the relevance of external environmental factors, and to do so in an internationally comparative perspective. By historically comparing the largest family businesses in Germany and Spain in the twentieth century, we find that they differ significantly in age and ask how external factors help us better understand these variances. After analysing the institutional framework of the two countries during the second part of the 20th century, we explore the strategic responses developed in reaction to that framework by four of the largest family businesses in the two countries. With this, we strive to capture the interdependent nature of internal decision-making processes and external environmental changes, ultimately arguing for a more holistic understanding of family business resilience over time.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Wang ◽  
Qiang Liang ◽  
Lihong Song ◽  
Erming Xu

Purpose With features of both “family” and “business,” family businesses must seek a balance between the emotional aspect of “family” and the economic aspect of “business” in its organizational and decision-making processes to ensure the sustainability of the family’s entrepreneurship. This study aims to focus on how internal institutional complexity combined evolves alongside the growth of the family business. Design/methodology/approach The research looks, from the perspective of institutional logic, into the Charoen Pokphand Group, which is an epitome of overseas Chinese family businesses and proceeds to build a model of family business growth in the context of institutional complexity. Findings The research finds that as a family business grows, institutional complexity inside the organization would change from aligned period to sustaining period and then to dominant period. Then further elucidates the process of proactive response in different stages of the development of a family business. Attaching equal importance to the cultivation of entrepreneurship and to the continuation of family values and culture is the crucial mechanism by which Chinese family businesses seek a balance between family logic and business logic. Originality/value This paper unveils the change of institutional complexity in the evolution of family businesses and the process of action of its agency as an organization, and simultaneously partly reveals the features of entrepreneurship that overseas Chinese family businesses have as they grew, which is of positive significance for exploring and building a path of growth unique to Chinese family businesses.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 185-197
Author(s):  
Anita Wijayanti ◽  
Massila Kamalrudin ◽  
Safiah Sidek ◽  
Kartika Hendra Titisari

Business transformation is essential to making the small-sized family business more sustainable. Technological and environmental changes have radically transformed the way of doing business. Business transformation into digital business is the key to success in these conditions. On the other hand, some of the previous studies of business transformation in several countries and industries show different empirical evidence. This study analyzes the transformation process in a small-sized family business. This is a case study of 15 small-sized family businesses with four different types of industry, with an interview and observation period of 12 months in 2019–2020. This study has formulated a business transformation model for a small-sized family business and presented the results of the transformation process carried out. The research results indicate that a business transformation model consists of several attributes and sub-attributes. Business transformation results indicate different processes and times between companies. In general, the transformation process can be grouped into the exploration, learning, and synchronizing stages. The industry with the fastest transformation process is the hospitality industry, while the manufacturing process for the industry takes a bit longer. The results of this study indicate that business transformation has improved the sustainability of a small-sized family business that is characterized by its ability to adapt to changing technology and environmental conditions.


Author(s):  
Martina Harc ◽  
Martina Basarac Sertić

The coronavirus is crippling the global economy. However, the economic impacts of the pandemic vary significantly across sectors of the economy. This outbreak and related lockdowns are putting the tourism industry under unprecedented pressure. Within months, world tourism went from over-tourism to non-tourism. Therefore, the overall objective of this chapter is to introduce the latest trends in tourism, with emphasis on family businesses. More precisely, the chapter encompasses (1) the theoretical background, which defines family business, highlights their characteristics, and summarizes the importance of leadership succession; (2) the role of family business resilience and their behaviour in times of crisis; (3) a review of relevant European Commission policy publications regarding EU tourism and statistical analyses of selected key tourism indicators; and (4) an analysis of family businesses environment in time of crisis. Hence, this chapter has documented the crucial role that family businesses tourism has within the European Union and on the front line of the current crises.


2021 ◽  
pp. 138-152
Author(s):  
Ana Cristina González ◽  
Miguel Ángel Pérez-Uribe

COVID-19 has impacted the world and has forced organizations to adapt to the “new normal”, and family businesses have not been exempt. In this study, we answer two research questions; how prepared are family businesses to face shocks like the pandemic? and, do contexts matter in that response? Using the Resource-Based View of the firm, in this qualitative exploratory study we analyze the resources and capabilities deployed by two business families owning three family businesses in the office furniture industry in the countries of Colombia and the USA. Our findings indicate that indeed family businesses are resilient, but the resources and capabilities deployed and their uses are different according to the context, suggesting a contingent familiness during a crisis.


1999 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam C. Okoroafo

This study determines the extent of internationalization (i.e., global business attitudes and activities) of family businesses. A survey of 187 family businesses from northwest Ohio finds that family businesses do not regularly monitor the international marketplace or integrate global developments into domestic decisions. Although a small pool of businesses currently has ties with family businesses in foreign countries, many more would like to develop such ties. The study finds that if a family business does not get involved in foreign markets in the first and second generations, it is unlikely to do so in later generations. The majority of family businesses does not develop sources in foreign countries. The family businesses that do source from overseas markets do so mostly for cost and quality benefits. Approximately half of family businesses sold their products in foreign markets primarily via exporting and joint ventures.


2019 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 235-246
Author(s):  
Alexey L. Beglov

The article examines the contribution of the representatives of the Samarin family to the development of the Parish issue in the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The issue of expanding the rights of the laity in the sphere of parish self-government was one of the most debated problems of Church life in that period. The public discussion was initiated by D.F. Samarin (1827-1901). He formulated the “social concept” of the parish and parish reform, based on Slavophile views on society and the Church. In the beginning of the twentieth century his eldest son F.D. Samarin who was a member of the Special Council on the development the Orthodox parish project in 1907, and as such developed the Slavophile concept of the parish. In 1915, A.D. Samarin, who took up the position of the Chief Procurator of the Most Holy Synod, tried to make his contribution to the cause of the parish reforms, but he failed to do so due to his resignation.


Transfers ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ueli Haefeli ◽  
Fritz Kobi ◽  
Ulrich Seewer

Based on analysis of two case studies in the Canton of Bern, this article examines the question of knowledge transfer from history to transport policy and planning in the recent past in Switzerland. It shows that for several reasons, direct knowledge transfer did not occur. In particular, historians have seldom become actively involved in transport planning and policy discourses, probably partly because the academic system offers no incentive to do so. However, historical knowledge has certainly influenced decision-making processes indirectly, via personal reflection of the actors in the world of practice or through Switzerland's strongly developed modes of political participation. Because the potential for knowledge transfer to contribute to better policy solutions has not been fully utilized, we recommend strengthening the role of existing interfaces between science and policy.


2021 ◽  
pp. 232949652110288
Author(s):  
Meaghan Stiman

In theory, participatory democracies are thought to empower citizens in local decision-making processes. However, in practice, community voice is rarely representative, and even in cases of equal representation, citizens are often disempowered through bureaucratic processes. Drawing on the case of a firearm discharge debate from a rural county’s municipal meetings in Virginia, I extend research about how power operates in participatory settings. Partisan political ideology fueled the debate amongst constituents in expected ways, wherein citizens engaged collectivist and individualist frames to sway the county municipal board ( Celinska 2007 ). However, it was a third frame that ultimately explains the ordinance’s repeal: the bureaucratic frame, an ideological orientation to participatory processes that defers decision-making to disembodied abstract rules and procedures. This frame derives its power from its depoliticization potential, allowing bureaucrats to evade contentious political debates. Whoever is best able to wield this frame not only depoliticizes the debate to gain rationalized legitimacy but can do so in such a way to favor a partisan agenda. This study advances gun research and participatory democracy research by analyzing how the bureaucratic frame, which veils partisanship, offers an alternative political possibility for elected officials, community leaders, and citizens to adjudicate partisan debates.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7091
Author(s):  
Ana Paula Fonseca ◽  
Sandro Carnicelli

The triple bottom line of sustainability has been the foundation to assess the overall performance of organizations in the hospitality sector. Family businesses are operating in a very competitive environment, and their practices are heavily scrutinised by stakeholders. This paper considers the value of action research in the field of family businesses in the hospitality sector through the prism of organizational learning. The focus of the research is to understand how a Scottish family business learns and implements corporate social responsibility and sustainability practices and how they embed the practices in their activities in a bed and breakfast. The family business used in this research is based in Paisley, Scotland. The use of action research enabled this research to follow a recurring spiral learning process of diagnosing, planning, acting, and evaluating to achieve organizational learning. The action learning contributed to re-thinking the communication between actors involved in the Scottish hospitality sector and family businesses to open a dialogue and produce norms and to contribute to knowledge about a new small-business social responsibility orbital framework.


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