Family Business Governance in the Czech Republic
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Proceedings of The 10th European Conference on Management Leadership and Governance ECMLG 2014 |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Management and administrative |
| Keywords | family business; Greiners theory; creative stage; leadership crisis; governance |
| Description | In comparison with previous years, the study of family businesses has increasingly begun to come to the fore in the Czech Republic. As well as research on an academic level, consultancy companies are also beginning to show a relatively high degree of interest in family businesses, concentrating in particular on familybusiness governance and succession. The differences between family and nonfamily businesses have been the subject of a wide range of research, particularly abroad. Perhaps the most attention has been focused on the manner of governing and managing family businesses, a weakness of which is the process of company succession. Based on case studies of family businesses from various sectors, the aim of this paper is to show the particular characteristics of family businesses in the area of governance and management. The cases described were collected between 2006 and 2009 through observation and a personal survey of family businesses as part of the Competitiveness of Czech Companies investigation carried out by Masaryk University from 2006 to 2010. The concept of the governance and management of family businesses was studied in relation to Greiner’s theory of organizational growth – specifically its first three developmental stages of creative management, crisis of leadership and professional direction. On the basis of Greiner’s theory the characteristics which define the individual stages of the organization’s growth were outlined. The growth stages of the organization presented were specified on the basis of the growth in size of the business over time. The defined characteristics were then compared with specific behaviour in family business governance and management. The investigation showed that, regardless of their size and the length of their existence, the family businesses under investigation were in the first two stages of the growth of a business, as defined by Greiner’s theory of organizational growth. From in depth interviews conducted with the owners of family businesses it emerged that not one of the businesses under investigation had moved on from the crisis of leadership stage to the professional direction stage. The findings established are in accordance with several international research projects and confirm the key influence of internal factors on the business, which represent the wishes of the owners and founders concerning family business governance and management. |