Toward enriching united career theory: familial entrepreneurship and copreneurship

Abstract

This paper explores the overlapping domains of business/firm and family. Suggests that the descriptor of "joint careers" is preferable to that of symbiotic careers. Describes what we term the primary career and auxiliary career which often go to make up a joint career. Both strands of career are a prerequisite for the resilience and success of the family business. The example of youth entrepreneurship is dealt with to show the possibility of an inversion of the traditional roles with the parents' career becoming ancillary to that of their offspring. Empirical observations from New Zealand are drawn on to illustrate our discussion. It is hoped that ideas discussed in this paper will aid the understandings of further dimensions and properties of the "thread" of the theory of the boundaryless career and help move forward the research agenda on the united career trajectory.

Women and power: a theoretical approach using the example of copreneurial businesses

“…Although often tacit, the usual assumption is that "It's his business" (Dumas, 1998). The wife, in turn, assumes an "auxiliary" role (De Bruin and Lewis, 2004) or is an auxiliary (Lespagnol, 1997). "When asked what was their formal title in the business, copreneurial husbands would state "owner", "president", and even "co-owner".…”

“…The female copreneur remains an invisible woman (Lyman, 1988;Gillis-Donovan and Moynihan-Bradt, 1990;Hollander and Bukowitz, 1990;Salganicoff, 1990;Marshack, 1994;Poza and Messer, 2001;Danes and Olson, 2003;De Bruin and Lewis, 2004 and so on). The role of copreneur wife is regarded as "unique but normal" and "central but often invisible" (Poza and Messer, 2001).…”

“…Danes (2006) argues that the literature has paid insufficient attention to spouses who do not play a formal role in the company. According to De Bruin and Lewis (2004), the hidden contribution of women's work should be recognized as a key contribution to the family business. While these authors point a finger at the lack of knowledge about the role of women in family and copreneurial businesses, no link has been made between their "hidden" role and theoretical developments on informal power.…”

“…Two theoretical approaches are taken: research into the invisibility of women in the copreneurial business (Marshack, 1994;Poza and Messer, 2001;Danes and Olson, 2003;De Bruin and Lewis, 2004) and research into power (March and Simon, 1958;Crozier and Friedberg, 1977;Mintzberg, 1983). The motivation for this choice was to be able to show that while the informal power held by the female copreneur may be evidence of her lack of visibility, it is not, however, evidence of her lack of influence.…”

“…De Bruin and Lewis (2004) introduce an interesting nuance into their discussion on the invisibility of women in business: they refer to women "who play, or are seen as playing" a supporting role. The nuance is important, and has significant implications for governance.…”