Decision‐making and leadership challenges in partner‐based, owner‐managed companies

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory multiple case study was to develop a deeper understanding of how owners of partner-based companies perceive shared-ownership decision-making in relation to leadership roles and organizational behavior. Data were collected from two law firms in Stockholm, Sweden. The data were used to identify the partners' perceptions of how the decision-making process affected the organizations and through an analysis of the collected data six themes were identified: (a) few written instructions, (b) consensus-driven leadership, (c) importance of strong office manager, (d) partners are foremost lawyers and leadership is secondary, (e) self-motivated staff, and (f) random communication. Findings of the study suggest there is an awareness of a lack of organizational structure and management procedures among partners, but also a desire to keep an informal style of reaching decisions and managing the firm. The consensus-based model affects leadership in the sense it makes decision-making slow, but it also means decisions are well anchored among the owners.

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