Daniela Weismeier-Sammer

Capturing the Familiness of Family Businesses: Development of the Family Influence Familiness Scale (FIFS)

This article develops a familiness scale measuring the family influence on the business via decision premises that express familiness. In three studies, we examine familiness with qualitative and quantitative approaches based on new systems theory. Narrative interviews are employed to generate items. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses led to a multidimensional scale (Family Influence Familiness Scale [FIFS]) comprising six dimensions: (1) ownership, management, and control; (2) proficiency level of active family members; (3) sharing of information between active family members; (4) transgenerational orientation; (5) family–employee bond; and (6) family business identity. Results indicate high reliability and validity levels.

Untangling ‘Familiness’ A Literature Review and Directions for Future Research

The influence of the family on business has been the subject of much debate, particularly with regard to the assumed familiness of family businesses. The term ‘familiness’ is at risk of becoming an umbrella concept and is often used haphazardly, lacking a solid theoretical background. This review provides a structured overview of the literature addressing the idea of familiness. Over the last 13 years, research on this key concept has grown continually, resulting in a broadening rather than a deepening of the concept of familiness. The results of the analysis of 33 manuscripts are presented and consolidated into three main categories: (1) theoretical perspectives; (2) the development and impact of familiness; and (3) empirical approaches. The analysis shows that existing research on familiness lacks the application of a universal theoretical lens. The authors counteract this shortfall by introducing new systems theory and presenting promising directions for further research, especially with regard to the development of a familiness typology.

Succession in the Family Business: Challenges for Successors from an Entrepreneurial Perspective

Kronmann Wholesale and Retail is an outstanding family business with more than 300 years of history. This teaching case tells the story of two cousins who follow their fathers into a business full of tradition. The case gives students the opportunity to gain insights into the complex succession process of family businesses, as well as the challenges with which successors are confronted in the course of family business succession.

CO-OPERATIVE GOVERNANCE OF PUBLIC-CITIZEN PARTNERSHIPS: TWO DIAMETRICAL PARTICIPATION MODES

Purpose – The aim of this study is to examine the impact of co-operative governance structures on citizen participation in public service provision.Methodology – Using a multiple case study-approach, we analyse and compare five examples of co-operative public–citizen partnerships in Austria and Germany.Findings – The study clearly shows that co-operatives can be a tool for both, (1) the bottom-up self-organization of citizens (co-operative as ‘contested space’) and (2) the top-down organization to canalize citizen participation (co-operative as ‘invited space’). Co-operative public–citizen partnerships therefore represent a balancing act between dependency through public funding and autonomy through community-based decision making.Research implications and limitations – The chapter underlines the importance of context-sensitive qualitative research. Limitations might stem from the fact that municipal areas might differ in other countries than Germany and Austria, for example, due to legal prerequisites.Practical implications – If regional government representatives are supporting a bottom-up initiative, they are more inclined to provide crucial resources for the public–citizen partnership and tensions between different stakeholders involved are weakened.Social implications – Co-operative public–citizen partnerships might enhance participatory democracy and seem to strengthen solidarity and social cohesion on the neighbourhood level.Originality/value of chapter – In showing that co-operatives are a suitable governance structure for community organizations, which enhance democratic decision making and foster social innovation in public service delivery, we support the findings of other studies. The chapter suggests that in order to enhance our understanding of citizen participation, context-sensitive research that goes beyond merely descriptive governance analysis is needed, taking into account the historical trajectories of public–citizen partnerships.

The role of familiness for family business innovativeness

The interplay between the business and the family from an innovativeness-perspective seems to be a promising field for family business scholars. Nonetheless, research on the relation between familiness and innovativeness is underdeveloped. This paper aims at overcoming this deficit by targeting the question how the familiness of a specific family business impacts its innovativeness. In doing so, a systems theory-based view is employed and the case study design follows a longitudinal qualitative approach. Results of objective hermeneutic analyses show that familiness plays an important role in establishing and maintaining a high innovativeness. Furthermore, the case highlights the importance of the alignment of employees with the familys innovative visions. Additionally, findings reconstruct the role of the family in innovation from a process as well as from an outcome perspective. Systems theory allows for the location of familiness in the coupling of family and business systems, where familiness supports the transportation of norms and values from the family system into the business system.

Intrapreneurship education in the dual education system

Intrapreneurship as a form of entrepreneurial behaviour has the potential to create substantial value for an enterprise. Intrapreneurs, as opposed to entrepreneurs, are usually active on a lower hierarchical level and confronted with the internal, rather than the external environment of an enterprise when engaging in entrepreneurial activities. Usually, intrapreneurs lack formal decision-making power and thus require special social competences to overcome challenges such as organisation-internal resistance. How can an enterprise train its employees to develop intrapreneurial behaviour? This paper analyses the apprenticeship training of three enterprises that are considered as good practice examples regarding innovativeness. The research results show that strict selection processes of apprentices, systematic vocational education and career planning, social integration, incentive systems, quality orientation and corporate social responsibility are conducive for the development of intrapreneurial behaviour.

Ambidexterity in Familienunternehmen

Die Forschung zu organisationaler ambidexterity untersucht die strategische Fahigkeit von Organisationen, ihr vorhandenes Wissen zu nutzen (exploitation) und neues zu generieren (exploration). Um Konflikte aus den beiden Lernmodi zu umgehen, werden in der ambidexterity-Forschung strukturelle und kontextuelle Losungsmoglichkeiten vorgeschlagen. Gegenstand der Fallanalyse ist ein innovatives mittelstandisches Familienunternehmen. Durch die Kopplung zweier Subsysteme (Unternehmen und Familie) gelten Familienunternehmen als kontextuell hybrid. Die Ergebnisse fordern zutage, wie die Familienkultur eine geschutzte Entwicklung radikaler Innovationen ermoglicht (Innovationsinkubator), wahrend die herausragende hierarchische Stellung der Familie im Unternehmen fur die Einhaltung festgelegter Prozesse und die konsequente Generierung von inkrementalen Innovationen sorgt. Es wird gezeigt, wie die Top-Management-Familie mit widerspruchlichen Bezugsrahmen umgeht und Wissensstrome zwischen strukturell getrennten Bereichen verbindet. Zudem zeigen die Daten eine unternehmerische Rolle des Top-Managements, wodurch die in der ambidexterity-Forschung vorherrschende administrative Rolle relativiert wird.