Nepotism: An Interdisciplinary Model

Abstract

This article presents an interdisciplinary approach to the study of nepotism. Nepotism is one of the least‐studied and most poorly understood human resource practices, yet its impact on family‐owned businesses, which frequently hire family members, is immense. To be effective consultants to family businesses we must have more than an anecdotal appreciation of nepotism. We also must look at nepotism from an interdisciplinary perspective to truly understand the impact that such policies and practices might have on family firms.

Strategic entrepreneurship within family-controlled firms: Opportunities and challenges

“…Nepotism manifests in family firms, for example, when awarding a position in the firm to a family member without considering non-family candidates. As summarized by Vinton (1998), families pursue nepotistic behaviors for a number of reasons, including the desire to maintain influence in the firm as well as stable relationships with key suppliers and customers, family members' shorter learning curves, and the probability of being able to clearly communicate operational rules and routines.…”

“…Four foci of family involvement research include the examination of issues pertaining to identity (e.g., Milton, 2008;Shepherd & Haynie, 2009;Sundaramurthy & Kreiner, 2008), justice (e.g., Lubatkin, Ling, & Schulze, 2007;Van der Heyden, Blondel, & Carlock, 2005), nepotism (e.g., Padgett & Morris, 2005;Vinton, 1998), and conflict (e.g., Ensley, 2006;Ensley & Pearson, 2005;Sorenson, 1999). Each of these factors influences how family members interact among themselves and with others in the business.…”

Resource orchestration in family firms: investigating how entrepreneurial orientation, generational involvement, and participative strategy affect performance

“…Other scholars, however, are more pessimistic, arguing family involvement is a liability to a firm's entrepreneurial efforts. Specifically, this perspective suggests that the desire to protect family wealth and prospects for future generations leads family firms to avoid risk (Naldi et al, 2007), delay or prevent change (Chirico and Nordqvist, 2010;Salvato, Chirico, and Sharma, 2010), follow conservative strategies (Chirico et al, forthcoming;Martin and Lumpkin, 2003;Miller, Steier, and Le Breton-Miller, 2003); and only weakly integrate competent external employees (Vinton, 1998). However, perhaps neither of these nascent perspectives is fully correct.…”

Boundaries and the Functioning of Family and Business Systems

“…For families that own or manage businesses, this may result in business decisions that are made in accordance with what is perceived as best for the family or vice versa. Probably the most commonly observed application of this is nepotism (Vinton, 1998). For instance, when family values guide business practices, parents may bring their children into the business and, without intending to, create career opportunities for their adult children for which they would not have qualified in the open market or might not otherwise have chosen for themselves.…”