Unpacking the Black Box of Family Business Advising: Insights From Psychology

Abstract

Academic research on family business advising is gaining momentum; however, the internal structure and mechanisms of advice giving and taking remain a black box. We conducted a systematic review that integrates findings from family business advising with those from psychology. Advising research in psychology has focused on understanding the subjective constructs and theoretical concepts composing the internal structures of advising. We develop an input–process–output framework to categorize and integrate both streams of literature on advising, introduce new concepts and variables from psychology that inform family firm advising, and identify important gaps to delineate avenues for future family firm research.

Four kinds of design thinking: From ideating to making, engaging, and criticizing

“…Indeed, as stated in the introduction, lots of consulting companies are adopting design thinking as a strategy to support clients in innovating (e.g., Accenture, PwC, Deloitte) so an exploratory investigation on them can shed light on the way they adopt and interpret these phenomena. Concerning the theoretical underpinnings, however, the centrality of advisors in the sensemaking and innovation process is growing in academic literature giving reliable support to the selection of the consulting organization as a focus of the investigation (Brooks et al, ; Strike et al, ; Strike & Rerup, ). We adopted the following criteria in selecting our sample: We identified four different segments of consulting organizations: design studios, digital agencies, strategic consultants and technology developers. We constructed the initial list of consulting organizations based on Italian industrial associations and the network of digital innovation observatories.…”

“…From an empirical perspective, we rely on 47 case studies of consulting organizations that provide advisory services based on the design thinking paradigm in Italy. We decided to focus on consulting organizations due to their centrality in the innovation processes and the growing attention that these players are gaining in the academic environment (Brooks, Gino, & Schweitzer, ; Strike, Michel, & Kammerlander, ; Strike & Rerup, ).…”

Family Offices and Institutional Change in Europe: A Comparative Analysis

“…The literature on family business advisors increasingly acknowledges the central role of family offices (Naldi et al, 2015;Reay et al, 2013;Strike, 2013;Strike et al, 2018;Welsh, Memili, Rosplock, & Segurado, 2013). They are professional bodies that rely on dedicated experts and act as an essential type of advisor to large entrepreneurial families and their businesses (Schickinger, Leitterstorf, & Kammerlander, 2018;Suess, 2014).…”

“…It provides advice to one or more families over several generations" (Decker & Lange, 2013, p. 298). The service offerings involve the support of activities of entrepreneurial families and the coordination of other types of advisors (Jaffe & Lane, 2004;Strike et al, 2018;Welsh et al, 2013).…”

“…Among these, family offices act as a mechanism for the control of entrepreneurial families as well as their businesses and wealth. They help preserve the families' objectives, fortunes and values as a legacy for future generations and support families in their entrepreneurial investments and new venture creation (Strike, Michel, & Kammerlander, 2018;Suess, 2014). Family offices are widely used, most notably in the U.S. and Europe and increasingly in other parts of the world (Decker & Lange, 2013;Geveke, 2018;Glucksberg & Burrows, 2016;Zellweger & Kammerlander, 2015).…”