Attracting Talent to Family-Owned Businesses: The Perceptions of MBA Students

Abstract

This paper examines the perceptions that MBA students hold regarding family-owned businesses compared to non-family firms. The study is based on the assumption that attracting talent is critical not only for continuous competitive advantage, but also for the survival of family-owned businesses. Therefore, family-owned firms should promote themselves as equally attractive as non-family organizations, in terms of employment opportunities. MBA graduates represent a rich pool of talent that can help family-owned firms to prosper across generations. One avenue of inquiry in this regard is to study MBA students and their perceptions. Consequently, studying whether MBA students hold a specific image regarding family-owned businesses is brought to the forefront. With this aim, the authors engaged in an enquiry process, dealing with MBA students' perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of family-owned firms, compared to non-family businesses. The sample was composed of 213 MBA students from 20 different countries. The results showed that MBA students do indeed hold a particular image regarding family-owned firms. More specifically, some of the findings are that MBA students perceive family-owned firms as having more problems within the ownership than non-family businesses, are not as good as non-family firms in attracting talented managers, have less job rotation, are slower in their internationalization processes, are slower in the implementation of new technologies, have more difficulty in issuing equity and the age of retirement is often higher than in non-family firms. Limitations of the study and future research are also discussed.

Why and when do family firms invest less in talent management? The suppressor effect of risk aversion

“…Although family firms benefit from formal human resource practices (Chrisman et al, 2017;Jaskiewicz et al, 2017), anecdotal and empirical evidence suggests that family firms fail to effectively manage human resources (Ceja Barba & Tàpies, 2009;Neckebrouck et al, 2018). Our study addresses this research gap by investigating why and when family firms invest less in talent management.…”

“…As one of the main goals of corporate governance is to indicate the organisation's strategic direction, and as family ownership influences the strategic decision of talent investments (Ceja Barba & Tàpies, 2009;Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2006), there is an ongoing debate about whether being a family firm is an antecedent of talent management investment. We continue to rely on the agency theory rationale to explore whether investing in talent management practices depends on the inherent risk of managing talent and the principal's risk aversion level.…”

How family CEOs affect employees’ feelings and behaviors: A study on positive emotions

“…Surveys like the KPMG European Family Business Barometer show that talent attraction is a major challenge for family firms in the 21st century, 13 especially for smaller family firms and those located in rural areas. For instance, studies of MBA students, who are mostly unfamiliar with family firms as employers, show a general negative attitude toward family firms (Ceja Barba and Tàpies, 2009). Therefore, the human resource managers of firms with family CEOs could build on and use our insights to communicate the potential advantages of working for family-managed firms.…”

Perceived socially responsible-HRM on talent retention: The mediating effect of trust and motivation and the moderating effect of other-regarding value orientation

“…MBA students and alumni with at least 1 year of working experience as a proxy to measure talents were used as respondents. According to Ceja Barba and Tàpies (2009) , MBA students are highly talented potential employees who can be a source of competitive advantage for organizations. The selection to represent talents is also consistent with several earlier studies by respectful scholars and their studies published in respectful management journals.…”