Bice Della Piana

A cross-cultural perspective of Family Business Groups.

ABSTRACT Around the world, some of the largest firms in many countries are controlled by family business groups such as Fiat in Italy, Ford in the US, Hutchison Whampoa in Hong Kong, Samsung in South Korea and many others. Further, many family groups have a long history. Although family business groups are a significant and long standing phenomenon in most parts of the world, their resilience to globalization in their use of different organizational structures have received little attention from a cross-cultural perspective. Drawing on our previous work, the study provides a theoretical framework to classify family business groups on the basis of their organizational choices from a cross-cultural perspective.

Mapping Family Business Groups from a Cross-Cultural Perspective

Around the world, some of the largest firms in many countries are controlled by family business groups (FBG), such as Fiat in Italy Ford in the US, Hutchison Whampoa in Hong Kong, Samsung in South Korea and many others. Further, many FBGs have a long history. Although FBGs are a significant and long-standing phenom en on, their in tern ationalization has received little a tten tionfrom a cross-cultural perspective. Drawing on our previous work, the study provides some preliminary findings on FBGs’ internationalization strategy from a cross-cultural perspective.

Embracing a new perspective on the governance of Family Business Groups: a cross-cultural perspective

Family Business Groups are a significant and long-standing phenomenon widespread around the world. Their governance mechanisms have previously been investigated at firm-level and country-level. However, little attention has been paid at cluster-level of analysis by considering the differences in national culture. Based on a sample of 117 publications, this article provides a systematic literature review on the FBGs’ governance mechanisms by taking a broad perspective in the selection process of the publications. There is evidence from the findings that supports the idea of variations of the governance mechanisms between different cultural clusters. Additionally, core aspects related to the resilience of these mechanisms within the cultural clusters are identified. Our research provides support to the argument that governance mechanisms across countries tend to be culturally embedded and clusterdependant.

The internationalization of a family business group: The ownership, the leadership and the importance of the socio-emotional wealth dimensions

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide some illustrative evidence to understand the distinctive forms of governance implemented by a well-established family business group (FBG) and to highlight the relative importance given to the different dimensions of socio-emotional wealth (SEW) during the internationalization process. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on multi-level and longitudinal data, the research provides in-depth insights into how the affiliated firms are linked to the focal firm, how the founding family in a large FBG organizes the top leadership roles spanning multiple countries and whether the inter-organizational and inter-personal networks changes over time and which are the most important items representing the SEW dimensions. Findings From the findings, it emerges that family ownership, family leadership and the presence of trusted people as pivotal actors in the FBG’s internationalization process. Originality/value The originality of the research stems from its contribution because despite providing illustrative evidence based on a single case-study, the findings offer additional insights over the importance of and the instrumental role played by SEW preservation as a perspective to explain FBGs’ internationalization.