Preface to Handbook of Research on the Strategic Management of Family Businesses (original) (raw)

2020, Handbook of Research on the Strategic Management of Family Businesses

Preface Strategy consists of competitive moves and business approaches to produce successful performance. Thus, strategic management is the art and science of formulating, implementing, and evaluating cross-functional decisions that enable an organization to achieve its objectives. Strategic management focuses on integrating management, marketing, finance/accounting, production, R&D, and computer information systems to achieve organizational success. In family firms, these business' processes and activities are influenced by the family's involvement in the firm, affecting the behavior and strategic decision-making process in this type of organization. Family businesses are a form of organization that represents an important portion of the business. It is estimated that between 60 percent and 90 percent of firms are family businesses, a portion that varies depending on the different regions in the world. A family business can be recognized theoretically, as a governed and/or managed organization with the intention of shaping and pursuing the business vision in the hands of a dominant coalition controlled by members of the same family or a small number of families in a way that is potentially sustainable between generations of the family or families. Given the complexities of the family business, there is no single definition, which has hindered the study and development of research in this field. In fact, in the development of empirical studies, the researchers adopt an operational definition that covers a wide scope regarding ownership considerations in the hands of the family, or aspects that relate to the intentions of the generational transfer of the firm to the following family generations. However, the development of the literature in family business as a field of research has grown considerably , especially in the context of strategic management. Undoubtedly, what distinguishes family businesses is the influence of the family in the decision-making processes. This familiarity is configured through the unique set of resources and capabilities generated from the interaction of family and business systems. The overlap of family and business systems in the strategic decision-making process would be responsible for the characteristic behavior of these organizations. Research in the field of strategic management in family businesses was initially devoted to studying the differences in behavior between family and nonfamily businesses. However, given the systematic progress of this field of study, in recent times, research has been oriented to the analysis of behavioral differences between family businesses. This has allowed recognizing the heterogeneity of behavior of this type of organization. Specifically, previous research provides evidence that family involvement and influence can affect the firm's performance, signaling the emergence of agency theory and resource-based vision as primary theoretical approaches. Similarly, recent findings suggest that corporate governance, succession, and competitive resources/advantage are the topics that have focused attention on the context of the strategic management of the family business. In this context, new theoretical frameworks have emerged based xxii