Family Enterprises as an Important Factor of the Economic Development: The Case of Slovenia

Abstract

Family SMEs represent an important share in the structure of all enterprises world-wide. In Slovenia, until recently we did not have at our disposal data or leastwise estimates on the share of the family enterprises as insufficient attention was devoted to their investigation. However, if we proceed from the fact that in Slovenia, especially in the 1990s, the number of SMEs has dramatically increased, it can be assumed that family enterprises also present a significant factor of the economic development in Slovenia. In the years 1998 and 1999 we carried out the first broad research on family enterprises in Slovenia (on the case of one region). The results of this empirical research confirmed that family SMEs present an important share in the structure of all enterprises in the region and therefore present an important factor of the development of this region and of Slovenia.

Success Factors of Entrepreneurs of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises: Evidence from Bangladesh

“…Some study (Quddus and Rashid, 2000) reports myriad of bureaucratic obstacles that entrepreneurs face in their quest to start a business. A host of factors such as lack of long-term capital (Chowdhury and Amin, 2011), limited personal and family savings (Mintoo, 2006), limited access to market (Keh, Nguyen and Ng, 2007;Mead and Liedholm, 1998;Swierczek and Ha, 2003), technology (Gundry, Ben-Yoseph and Posig, 2002;Gibbons and O'Connor, 2003) and information (Singh and Krishna, 1994;Duh, 2003;Kriestiansen, 2002) have been found to be impeding the success of entrepreneurs of small and medium enterprises of Bangladesh. Personal and political enmity between political rivals, frequent haratal (strikes), lack of respect for elementary principles of democratic governance have become the principal characteristics of political system of the country (Chowdhury, 2007).…”

Family Businesses: The Extensiveness of Succession Problems and Possible Solutions

“…For Slovenia, several estimations were done regarding the importance of family businesses. The estimated share of family enterprises among SMEs in one Slovenian region ranged between 38.1 and 50.1 percent (Duh, 2003). The results of another large-scale research study showed that 46.45 percent of SMEs in the sample were identified as family businesses; the estimated share of family enterprises among SMEs in Slovenia was between 41.11 and 51.79 percent .…”

“…Indeed, the social and economic changes in the former socialist countries in the Central and Eastern Europe created an opportunity for establishing private enterprises, and the industrial policy in these countries has been focused on the development of a dynamic SME sector. Several studies have found that families provide critical resources and support to newly emerging enterprises in these countries (Duh, 2003;Dyer & Panicheva Mortensen, 2005;Poutziouris et al, 1997).…”

“…During that period, operating a family firm within the craft sector was not really attractive due to various pressures on the private owners, such as restrictions in employment, amount of productive resources allowed in the private ownership, and the weak image of crafts compared to favored social companies (Duh, 2003;. The transition to the market economy from the former socialist economy in Slovenia was closely connected with the development of private SMEs as well as family enterprises.…”

“…The level of preparedness of the next generation and its relationship with the senior generation has a significant influence on the next generation's performance. A supportive relationship characterized by mutual respect and open communications enables the smooth transition of knowledge, social capital, and networks across generations (Duh, 2003;Dyck et al, 2002;Morris et al, 1997;Sharma et al, 2003). Such transfers would lead to competitive advantages for family enterprises (Sharma, 2004).…”