The Contribution of Leadership Style and Practices to Family and Business Success

Abstract

Based on Dyer's (1986) study of family business cultures, this study derives five approaches to leadership: participative, autocratic, laissez‐faire/mission, expert, and referent. It argues that participative, expert, and referent leadership should produce positive outcomes for the business and the family, and high levels of employee satisfaction and commitment. It also argues that autocratic and laissez‐faire/mission leadership should be associated with relatively negative outcomes for the business and the family and produce low levels of employee satisfaction and commitment. A study of 59 small family businesses produced the following significant results: participative leadership is positively related to both family and business outcomes as well as to employee satisfaction and commitment; referent leadership is positively related to family outcomes and employee satisfaction; and, unexpectedly, laissez‐faire/mission leadership is positively related to employee commitment. Using correlational data as the basis, the paper discusses practices that might promote participative, referent, and laissez‐faire/mission leadership.

To Be or Not to Be: How Family Firms Manage Family and Commercial Logics in Succession

“…These filters thus can help prevent conflict and paralysis that often occur in organizations exposed to equally important and competing institutional logics. Previous family firm research has distinguished family cultures and firm leadership styles (e.g., Dyer, 1986;Lansberg, 1983;Poza et al, 1997;Ward, 1987), speculating that these factors might be associated with how family firms pursue family and firm goals (Sorenson, 2000). However, until our study, the role these characteristics played in understanding the heterogeneity of family firm behaviors had not been analyzed in depth.…”

Participative Leadership and Organizational Identification in SMEs in the MENA Region: Testing the Roles of CSR Perceptions and Pride in Membership

“…Somech (2005) believes that the process of open communication inaugurated in participative leadership can assist in lowering the hurdles present among organizational members. It settles conflicts by building cohesive team work as it increases the understanding of the business as well as the acceptance of the decisions made (Sorenson, 2000). Bryman (2013) affirms that participative leadership supposedly creates happier and more productive employees because they feel that they have a say and, hence, some kind of control over certain events within the company.…”

Orientaciones competitivas culturales en la empresa familiar

“…Poza et al (1997) su relación con los valores del fundador en la cultura organizativa de la empresa familiar. Sorenson (2000) su nexo con el estilo de liderazgo y el éxito de la empresa. Y Chrisman et al (2002), Steier (2001), Pistrui et al (2001) y Corbetta y Montemerlo (1999) su vínculo con la historia de la empresa y la cultura del entorno.…”