Herbert Neubauer

The Dynamics of Succession in Family Businesses in Western European Countries

Family businesses represent a major economic factor in western economies.This paper illustrates the significance of and problems involved with succession in family businesses on the basis of empirical data on Austria and Germany. The paper presents a number of ideas on the systems of the family and the business from both interdisciplinary and dynamic perspectives and sheds light on generation changes in detail. Finally, a number of recommendations are made for future dynamic/systemic research on succession.

INSTITUTIONALISATION OF MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING IN FAMILY BUSINESSES — EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM AUSTRIA AND GERMANY

This study investigates whether family businesses (FBs) differ from non-family businesses (NFBs) regarding the institutionalisation of management accounting. Furthermore, it analyses whether FB-specific contextual factors such as the existence of non-family management and the level of family influence affect the establishment of discrete management accounting departments. Six hypotheses are formulated and tested based on survey results from 479 firms from Austria and 418 firms from Germany. Our results indicate that FBs establish fewer management accounting departments than NFBs do and that the heads of management accounting in FBs are less likely to hold a university degree compared with their counterparts in NFBs. Moreover, within FBs, larger firm size and the existence of non-family management are positively correlated with the establishment of management accounting departments, where firm size acts as the strongest predictor. As firm type (FB vs. NFB) emerged as a significant contextual factor for the institutionalisation of management accounting, this factor should be included in future studies of the organisation and set-up of the corporate management accounting function. Moreover, deeper investigation into the drivers and outcomes of FB-specific management accounting institutionalisation is needed.

The Chief Financial Officer's Role in Medium-Sized Firms: Exploratory Evidence from Germany

Research on the Chief Financial Officer’s (CFO) role has increased in the last few years, but has so far mainly focused on large firms and neglected the CFO’s role in smaller firms. Therefore, in this paper, we study whether the CFO’s role in medium-sized firms differs from the CFO’s role in large firms. Using a sample of 378 German firms, we investigate the effect of firm size on CFO characteristics, CFO responsibilities and the CFO’s participation in strategic planning. Our findings show that CFOs in medium-sized firms have less often obtained a university degree and less often take responsibility for various finance and accounting functions compared to large firms. We do not find a differing level of CFO participation in strategic planning in dependence of firm size, but we find that after the CEO, the CFO obtains a “number two” position in strategic planning regardless of firm size.

Unternehmerqualifizierung und Unternehmerausbildung

■ Das Interesse am Unternehmertum ist in den letzten Jahren sowohl in der Wissenschaft als auch der Wirtschaft und der Politik signifikant gestiegen. Dieses gesteigerte Interesse zeigt sich etwa in der zunehmenden Anzahl an Kursen und Ausbildungsprogrammen inner- und auserhalb des universitaren Bildungswesens, in einschlagigen Publikationen, sowie der generellen Berichterstattung in den Medien und in der politischen Diskussion. Im Licht dieses zunehmenden Interesses stellt sich auch das Thema einer Unternehmerqualifikation und Unternehmerausbildung, die den zukunftig zu erwartenden Anforderungen gerecht wird. ■ In diesem Beitrag wird, ausgehend von verschiedenen Denk- und Erklarungsansatzen des Phanomens Unternehmer, die Moglichkeit einer umfassenden Unternehmerausbildung unter dem Aspekt der unternehmerischen Kompetenz und einer handlungsorientierten Wissensvermittlung aufgezeigt. ■ Fur die Integration der Erkenntnisse der Forschung und der Praxiserfahrung wird ein Strukturmodellansatz der Unternehmerausbildung als Bezugsrahmen dargelegt und die Elemente des Modellgefuges diskutiert. ■ Die Befunde machen deutlich, dass eine Unternehmerausbildung den kunftigen Unternehmern Denk- und Sichtweisen vermitteln soll, die diese mit ihrer Personlichkeit durch aktive Gestaltung erfolgreich umsetzen konnen.

The Relationship between Corporate Governance Configuration in Family Businesses and the Use of Management Accounting

Extant research has shown that family businesses use less management accounting practices than non-family businesses. In our study, we extend the research in this field by analysing the effects of various corporate governance configurations in family businesses on the usage of management accounting. We find that the composition of the supervisory board (with or without family members) does not have a positive impact on management accounting usage, whereas the introduction of non-family members into the top management team partly does. Our findings suggest that the mere existence of corporate governance bodies such as the supervisory board in family businesses is positively associated with the use of management accounting. Our study also indicates that management accounting information may play a pivotal role in the communication between the top management team and the supervisory board of a family business.

Born Global – Internationalisierung und Entrepreneurship

Die zunehmende Globalisierung der Markte, die politische und wirtschaftliche Integration der Staaten und der Konkurrenzdruck am nationalen Markt sind es, die Unternehmen jeder Grosenordnung zwingen, verstarkt Anstrengungen zu unternehmen, international tatig zu werden.