Tradition and Transformation in a Chinese Family Business

Wong, Heung Wah; Chau, Karin Ling-Fung

doi:10.4324/9781315690612

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Yet, the study of family firms and business families remains largely neglected and lacks an entry in the wide-ranging handbooks on economic anthropology (Hann 2022). There is some solid research available, but the results remain disparate and have few links to each other (see Ghezzi 2016;Hornig 2019;Tereshina 2019;Wong & Chau 2019;Yanagisako 2002). Family business researchers with a strong background in management studies dominate the analysis of family firms and business families.…”

Section: Tobias Koellnermentioning

confidence: 99%

Family firms and business families: A field for anthropological research

Koellner¹

2022

Anthropology Today

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This article aims to bring the topics of kinship and economy together in a particular way. Family business researchers with a strong background in management studies dominate the analysis of family firms and business families. However, adding anthropological research to family business will benefit future research in both disciplines and provide a better understanding of family business beyond these research trajectories. This article aims to contribute to this literature.

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Section: Tobias Koellnermentioning

confidence: 99%

Family firms and business families: A field for anthropological research

Koellner¹

2022

Anthropology Today

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“…Conflict theory thus suggests that the potential for conflicts in family firms often stems from norms, personal influence on decision-making, different treatment of family members, sibling rivalry, unequal distribution of power, and differing views, values and goals among the family generations involved in the business [43], [46], [47]. Family firms can substantially suffer from such internal conflict, especially during transformation processes (e.g., [48], [49]), as they may overshadow business concerns [50], [51], [52], [53], and lead to lower operational performance, reduced profitability, and even the risk of business failure. However, conflict theory also suggests that a moderate level of conflict in family firms, where there are disagreements or tensions between parties but the conflict has not escalated, can be beneficial to achieving both business and family outcomes [54].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conflict Management Strategies and the Digitalization of Family Firms: The Moderating Role of Generational Ownership Dispersion

Bürgel

Hiebl

2024

IEEE Trans. Eng. Manage.

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Family business research indicates that digital transformation may lead to substantial conflicts. However, little is known about how conflict management strategies address such conflicts. We thus mobilize conflict theory and empirically examine the impact of these strategies on the level of family business digitalization and whether such strategies are contingent on the number of ownership generations involved. To do so, we draw on a combination of a survey of 85 German family firms and in-depth interviews with 13 family business actors. Our quantitative results indicate that selected strategies can help reach higher levels of digitalization, but their effects are contingent on generational ownership dispersion. Additionally, our qualitative insights suggest that, in case of multiple active ownership generations, senior family generations feel less responsible for digitalization and pass it on to the younger generation. However, where ownership is concentrated in one generation, collaboration strategies seem crucial to prevent digitalization-related conflicts.

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“…We have also conducted indepth interviews with more than 30 members of the company. Part of the case study has been adapted fromWong and Chau (2020a;2020b) 3 To protect the identity of our informants, pseudonyms have been used.4 For a detailed discussion of the concept of jia, refer to Wong's paper in this special issue.…”

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confidence: 99%