Family businesses seem to have unique characteristics that make them different from nonfamily firms and, even though this phenomenon is understudied, they seem to differ substantially from nonfamily firms in the ways they handle human resource management (HRM). This chapter focuses on three key theoretical perspectives, namely, the resource-based view of the firm, institutional perspectives, and stakeholder analyses, to advance understanding of HRM in family-owned organizations. First, looking at the direct relationships between strategic HRM and distal competitive outcomes, the family business context seems to fall short compared to the non–family business context. However, when adding moderators, some relationships change, raising questions as to the appropriateness of extant theorizations of competitive advantage across organizational institutional settings. Second, family businesses seem to pay special attention to certain stakeholders when compared to their nonfamily counterparts, creating the need to explicate the reasons behind such emphasis. Third, family businesses seem to be affected by certain institutional constraints and enablers, necessitating their study in greater depth and the reasons behind their effects. Given these results, this chapter proposes a line of research devoted to the study of HRM in family business in its institutional context, also looking at the antecedents and the effects of such practices.
Introducing theoretical perspectives on family business
