Strategic Management of the Family Business: Past Research and Future Challenges

TLDR

Family‑business research is largely descriptive and focuses on family relationships, yet it rarely links these relationships to firm performance. The article proposes new strategic‑management objectives for family‑business research and identifies key gaps that future studies should address to improve management and performance. The authors conduct a literature review of family‑business studies through a strategic‑management lens.

Abstract

This article reviews the literature on family business from a strategic management perspective. In general, this literature is dominated by descriptive articles that typically focus on family relationships. However, the literature does not usually address how these relationships affect the performance of a family business. Taking a strategic management perspective, we outline a new set of objectives for family-business research. We also identify some of the key issues and gaps that should be explored in future studies if research is to contribute to improving the management practices and performance of family firms.