Strategic Goals and Practices of Innovative Family Businesses

A profile of 231 Washington state family businesses is presented. This article focuses on the business strategies of these firms, analyzing the relationship between strategy, performance, and business practices. Firms categorized as Prospector firms reported more gains in their current market position than all other strategic types. These firms were more likely to value an effective management and employee team and to develop new quality products and services and career development plans for non-family employees. Implications for family businesses are discussed.     

Growth,Diversification, and Business Group Formation in Entrepreneurial Firms

Recent empirical research has demonstrated that the growth process of entrepreneurial firms is frequently achieved through the formation of business groups: i.e. a set of companies run by the same entrepreneur (or entrepreneurial team). This has been hypothesised as result of a growth process by diversification of the original activity. This entrepreneurial growth process offers an alternative explanation for the formation of business Groups, than that arising from managerial efficiency and expediency. The main aim of the article is to explore group formation through entrepreneurial diversification using a sample of high growth entrepreneurial firms. The analysis demonstrates that the running of a group of companies by the same entrepreneur is not only induced by the geographical extension of their operation and by diversification but also by the differentiation policy aimed at serving different market segments within the same sector. This seems to contrast with the diversification policy and organisational setting of large, managerial firms     

The Creation and Growth of Small Business Service Firms in Post-Industrial Britain

Since 1980, the United Kingdom has experienced a dramatic growth in firms and employment in information-intensive business services, such as management consultancy and market research. This article reports the results of the first substantial nation-wide investigation into the nature and causes of small professional business service firm growth in Britain, undertaken in 1991. It reveals marked differences in the characteristics, markets and competitive requirements of such firms, compared with small manufacturing firms. The demand for their services comes predominantly from large companies, and is more focussed on financial and other services and government. But small firms are also making increasing use of business services. Specialised expertise, reputation and educational and professional qualifications are essential prerequisites for the establishment of new business service firms. Their success is also being enhanced by increasing use of informal networking, collaborative partnerships, and subcontracting.     

Business Growth and Performance and the FinancialReporting Practices of Australian Manufacturing SMEs

This article describes an explanatory study of the impact of financial reporting practices upon business growth and performance outcomes amongst small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) engaged in manufacturing in Australia. The study is able to establish some statistically significant bivariate associations between the extent and frequency of financial reporting undertaken and certain measures of SME growth and performance. However, the state of financial reporting practices becomes subsumed by other important influences in multivariate analysis. Management is a complex activity affected by a myriad of interacting internal and external factors, and must inevitably be undertaken in an holistic manner in SMEs. Particular practices make a contribution to the whole task without necessarily standing out as all-embracing solutions to problems generally encountered. Thus, it is argued that improved financial reporting should be realistically viewed as simply part of a broader competence in financial management which, taken together with other functional capabilities, is likely to lead to more effective and efficient management of SMEs and significantly improve their prospects.     

Customer Relationship Management: A Comparative Analysis of Family and Nonfamily Business Practices*

It has been reported that family businesses perceive excellent customer service as critical to the future of their businesses. However, little research into the customer relationship management (CRM) practices of family businesses has been performed. In this study, we examine CRM implementation among 82 family and 370 nonfamily firms. Family and nonfamily businesses report similar attitudes toward the importance of CRM, their knowledge of CRM, and their success when they do implement it. However, using a logit regression model, we find that the actual implementation strategies of family businesses are significantly different from those of nonfamily businesses. These results remain constant when controlling for size and industry sector.     

The High Growth in New Metal-Based Manufacturing and Business Service Firms in Finland

This study examined the effects of the factors involved in the start-up situation and the first seven years' development on the subsequent high growth of firms. The criterion of success used in this study was high growth in business during the first seven years. The subjects were Finnish metal products manufacturing firms and business service firms established in 1990. The results indicated, firstly, that it is the internal networks of firms that bring about competitive advantage, innovations and efficiency. In these entrepreneurial team-driven firms a group of people participate in the strategic management of the firm. It was also found that co-operation between firms and changes in external personal networks contributed to a high rate of growth. The empirical results showed that new firms had equal chances for growth irrespective of their locality. On the other hand, growth was affected by changes in a new firm's competitive situation and by changes in strategic factors. The results also clearly indicated that high growth firms were characterised by rising productivity of labour at the same time as they were generating new jobs.     

Issues in Growing a Family Business: A Strategic Human Resource Model

The conceptual literature on family businesses suggests that family businesses have difficulty managing their human resources, especially when it concerns a family member or the transition from the founder to the successor. The authors empirically examined the assumptions raised in the conceptual literature regarding whether family businesses were experiencing human resource problems in growing their business and what factors enabled or constrained the ability of their businesses to grow. The authors used in-depth interviewing to collect data in order to emphasize the depth of the issue. Using content analysis with subject matter experts coding the data, the authors sought to mine the richness of data. Finally, the authors analyzed the data using Elliot Jaques' Stratified Systems Theory as a model to examine the strategic human resource issues and to draw some tentative conclusions.     

The Ethical Management Practices of Australian Firms

This paper addresses a number of important issues regarding the ethical practices and recent behaviour of large Australian firms in nine industries. These issues include whether firms have a written code of ethics, whether firms have a forum for the discussion of ethics, whether managers consider that their firm's activities have an environmental impact and whether there are any statistical relationships between the size, industry class, ownership, international involvement and location of the firm and its ethical management practices. These questions are examined by using data collected from a sample of 136 large firms operating in Australia.     

家族、家族文化与家族企业发展

本文从我国家族和家族文化的视角入手,探讨了家族和家族文化在家族企业发展中的积极影响:节约管理隐性成本;面对多变经营环境快速作出反应;劳资关系的和谐稳定;企业原始积累快;管理决策高效;企业人力资源易整合,及企业发展提供所需的企业精神动力。这些积极因素的有效利用,有助于家族企业在发展中赢得其他经济组织所没有的竞争优势。同时家族企业需善用家族资源,防止家族资源的负化。     

人口与计划生育管理的改革创新与计划生育协会发展

建立中国社会主义市场经济体制的经济改革目标以及与之相适应的"小政府、大社会"的社会管理改革目标,将在新时期人口与计划生育管理体制和运行机制改革的内容和方向方面起主导作用,同时为中国计划生育协会提供极为广阔的发展空间.分析了障碍计划生育协会发展的主要因素,并提出了对策建议.     

人口与计划生育管理的改革创新与计划生育协会发展

建立中国社会主义市场经济体制的经济改革目标以及与之相适应的小政府、大社会的社会管理改革目标,将在新时期人口与计划生育管理体制和运行机制改革的内容和方向方面起主导作用,同时为中国计划生育协会提供极为广阔的发展空间.分析了障碍计划生育协会发展的主要因素,并提出了对策建议.     

家族制企业的生成与变迁：一个契约观点

"家族制企业"很大程度上可以看作是传统家庭生产组织功能在自由市场经济条件下的专业化拓展和规模化经营,因此,"家族企业研究"的深化有赖于对"家族制度"本身认识上的深化,本文首先将分析重点放在对家族(庭)制本身组织方式和治理机制的考察,然后以此为基础,对自由市场经济环境下家族制企业的生成机理和适用边界给予逻辑一致的解释.     

家族企业代际传承及二代推动战略转型的绩效研究

本文将家族企业代际传承分为参与管理、共同管理和接收管理三个阶段,探究了处于不同阶段家族企业的绩效情况以及二代推动的家族企业战略转型对企业绩效的影响。利用2010－2012年我国A股主板上市公司中家族企业的样本展开实证研究,得出如下结论：二代进入家族企业高管,参与家族企业的日常经营和战略决策,或者与一代共同管理家族企业,对企业业绩产生正面影响;由于样本数量较少的客观原因,接收管理后企业绩效的经济后果关系未能得到证实;二代推动的战略转型对共同管理和企业绩效的关系起反向调节作用,在代际传承的共同管理阶段实施战略转型会降低原有真实绩效。     

The Survival of Family Firms: The Importance of Control and Family Ties

The aim of this article is to analyze the survival patterns of a group of family firms which have already spent at least 25 years in the market. To this end, we use the Kaplan–Meier product limit estimator supplemented with qualitative information gathered by direct observation and discussions with entrepreneurs. The main findings are that small family firms which have reached their 30th year in the market face a very high risk of sudden exit, increasing with firm age. Further control carried out by means of interviews with entrepreneurs identifies problems connected with succession as one of the main causes of the decision to close down.     

家族企业与家族式管理辨析

改革开放20多年来,我国家族企业取得了令人瞩目的成就,成为推动我国经济发展的生力军,在国民经济中发挥举足轻重的作用。当前,家族企业依然保持了快速发展的势头,表现出了旺盛的生命力。然而家族式管理对企业的发展确实有很多弊端。因此,家族企业发展的趋势要改革不适应的家族式管理模式,认清家族企业不等于家族式管理。将现代企业制度与家族企业相适应的内容引入家族制,建立现代家族模式应成为家庭企业变革的重要突破点。     

Transforming Educational and Business Practices in Belarus

Abstract

The Bryant College Collaborative Learning at a Distance (CLD) Program in Belarus was designed to promote collaboration across diverse cultural, political, and philosophical boundaries. CLD programs can assist the Newly Independent States (NIS) in meeting the political, social, and economic challenges associated with the transition from a centralized, administrative command economytoa more democratic and diversified society. Cost-effective, collaborative distance learning projects can help to address the problem of limited educational resources and prepare faculty, undergraduates, entrepreneurs, and NGO leaders for better understanding the role of civic responsibility as a foundation for western business practices.

The ongoing Internet-based, Bryant College CLD Program, including educational institutions, research facilities and business firms, focuses on a non-hierarchical model, emphasizing reciprocal, interactive learning and problem-solving. Components include Web-based courses, International Virtual Roundtable Discussions via E-mail, seminars on business skills and Web design, Internet protocol video conferencing between the U.S. and Belarus, a faculty exchange and training project, and a business internship program aimed at providing hands-on experience with business and NGO leaders in the U.S. This project demonstrates that Internet-based, collaborative learning can transcend cultural and language barriers and advance the development of a business environment supportive to the entrepreneurial spirit.     

The Turnover of Firms and Industry Growth

In a dynamic setting, every firm can be regarded as a “business experiment” with the objective to search and explore new business opportunities. It is suggested that the growth of an industry is enhanced by new-firm entry, since a positive correlation between the number of successes, i.e. fast-growing firms, and the number of business experiments is to be expected. Exit is necessary to sort out the firms that the market rejects. Hence, it is rather the entry and exit of firms that jointly should have a positive effect on growth, rather than the number of entries in isolation. This paper tests the hypothesis that a high turnover rate of firms has no, or a negative, effect on industry growth. The analysis is based on an extensive data set covering all Swedish IT firms that existed between 1994 and 1998. The turnover rate of firms is found to have a significantly positive effect on industry growth.     

Business Ethics,Business Practices,and the Power of the Parable

Teaching Business Ethics - Business practitioners and academics areconstantly seeking guidelines for improvingethical business practices. In this paper weattempt to explain how the New...