Family business governance: An integrated approach using agency, stewardship, and social capital theories

Abstract

The governance of family businesses has been a subject of great interest and research in recent years. As these enterprises contribute significantly to global economies, understanding their governance becomes crucial. Indeed, managing the governance of these organizations presents a unique challenge due to a variety of factors. One prominent aspect is their intricate and enduring stakeholder framework, which encompasses family members, senior executives, and controlling boards (Moufdi & Manosuri, 2021). This contribution, which is theoretical in scope, aims to open a debate on the theoretical approaches of corporate governance that researchers must mobilize while highlighting their main strengths and limitations when it comes to understanding the “family business” phenomenon. The results obtained show that the analysis of their governance requires a combination of the contractual view (agency theory being the dominant theory of this current) and the relational view (encompassing stewardship theory and social capital theory) of corporate governance. We believe that the theoretical framework thus adopted provides a multidimensional understanding of family business governance and provides comprehensive insight and significant relevance in understanding the intricacies of this organization’s governance, offering valuable perspectives for researchers interested in this field of investigation.