Managing Family Businesses in Small Communities

Small businesses located in communities with populations of less than 10,000 were identified in a national sample of family businesses and examined for differences in their management strategies (n = 384). These businesses were first clustered by level and type of management strategy and then analyzed to ascertain differences and similarities in both personal and business firm characteristics among the family business manager groupings. Problems associated with small business management and sources of assistance were also identified. Findings suggest that managers of small family businesses located in small U.S. communities who practiced strategies focusing on extensive planning and controlling perceived their businesses to be successful; however, these managers noted that their greatest problem involved development of sound marketing strategies.     

Intergenerational Succession in Small Family Businesses: Borrowing Constraints and Optimal Timing of Succession

Small family businesses differ from non-family businesses in that their functioning is not independent of the life cycle of the owner-operator, and in that other family considerations sometimes lead to sub-optimal managerial decisions from the point of view of the business. This is why a smooth intergenerational succession is essential to the profitability of the business, and to the welfare of the family as a whole. Succession within the family involves first of all the choice of a successor. The choice is affected by birth order, age differentials, and qualifications of potential successors. Choosing a successor means reaching an agreement about the timing of succession and income distribution before and after succession. This paper focuses on the decision of the business-operating family when to bring in the designated successor. A utility-maximizing time is shown to differ from the income-maximizing time only in the presence of binding borrowing constraints. Such constraints are likely to enhance an earlier succession in order to use the successor's accumulated off-business assets to ease the constraints and to increase future business income due to earlier accumulation of business-specific human capital by the successor. An additional model shows that the successor will not be willing to wait indefinitely for the formal ownership transfer of the business, because of the risk of being disinherited in some future period. The consequences of possible strategic behaviors of both the owner and potential successors on the results of these models is discussed informally.     

Divorce and the Financial Performance of Small Family Businesses: An Exploratory Study

This study formally examines the relationship between marital dissolution and the short-term financial performance of small closely held family businesses. Fifty-two cases of divorce where a small family business was involved were examined. Organizational and situational variables, such as the involvement of other partners in the business, whether the business was a franchise, whether formal legal proceedings were necessary, and gender differences also were examined. The results indicate that marital dissolution does impact short-term financial performance and that several organizational and situational variables significantly influence this relationship.     

Ethical Challenge to Businesses: The Deeper Meaning

Today, ethics has become an important dimension for businesses. Broadly, there are two lines of thought on this issue. The first one suggests that ethical issues have to be resolved through development of appropriate ethical standards at personal or organizational level. The second one emphasizes the process of developing ethical standards rather than the standards themselves. This paper argues that the latter line of thought, when taken forward, implies that ethical dimension is essentially challenging businesses to transform themselves and their people at a very fundamental level in order to evolve continuously to higher levels of perfection. The deeper significance is that in future, businesses will play a dominant role in bringing forth the human spirit, an aspect that is hitherto perceived to be in the purview of other human activity systems like the Church or family. This restructuring at the societal level is probably the most fundamental message of this age of growing interdependence.     

Ethical Attitudes in Small Businesses and Large Corporations: Theory and Empirical Findings from a Tracking Study Spanning Three Decades

This study offers a theoretical framework of ethical behavior and a comparative analysis of ethical perceptions of managers of large, mostly publicly traded corporations (those with 1,000 or more employees) and the owners and managers of smaller companies (those with fewer than 100 employees) across 17 years. The primary research provides basic data on the changing standards of ethics as perceived by leaders of large and small businesses where the cultures frequently fall into sharp contrast. Our findings reveal the extent to which the message of business integrity is gaining or losing ground within large and small companies. It does this by means of respondents’ judgments of acceptable responses to 16 scenarios profiling common business situations with questionable ethical dimensions. Based on responses from over 5,000 managers and employees (from firms of all sizes) to our scenarios at three points in time (1985, 1993, 2001), we tested two research questions. First, for firms of all sizes, have business ethics improved or declined between the years 1985 and 2001? Second, comparing responses of large and small firm executives across the 1985–2001 time frame, is there a discernible difference in their ethical standards? Our results suggest that business leaders are making somewhat more ethical decisions in recent years. We also found that small business owner–managers offered less ethical responses to scenarios in 1993 but that no significant differences existed with large firm managers in 1985 and 2001. Implications of our findings are discussed.     

家族企业治理结构与经营绩效关系的实证研究——基于浙江非上市中小家族企业的调查数据

根据对浙江地区家族企业的抽样调查研究,本文得到以下实证结论:在我国家族企业治理结构和经营绩效关系方面:家族企业融入外部资本和管理资源都存在一个追求短期销售绩效的倾向;非上市中小家族企业并不存在“一股独大”问题,而是具有“一股独大”优势;家族企业股权分割清晰能显著提高企业绩效;家族企业外部顾问制度的“公正性效率”的提高显著大于“适用性效率”的降低,家族企业的治理效率得到改善。     

Developing M-Education for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses

Abstract

Mobile computing has the potential to be of great benefit to aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners. Small businesses and entrepreneurs have been the subject of much literature, national policy and regional policy. A recurring concern has been the inability to transfer the benefits arising from new technologies to this important segment of the business community. The simplest and most obvious manner of rectifying these situations would be to have the small business sector participants come to the local colleges, universities, or small business development centers. However, due to a plethora of external and internal barriers, most attempts to reach this segment have proven quite futile. This gives rise to Mobile education (M-education). This article explores the possibilities and limitation of M-education. It gives a potential way of utilizing the technology and potential partnership in the Inland Empire of Southern California. The partnership is known as TECH-BOOST.     

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.     

经济转型期浙江家族企业代际传承与持续成长

本文对浙江412户家族企业进行了问卷调查,数据分析显示大部分家族企业尚未进行初次代际传承,在今后5-10年内将出现权杖传承的高峰现象,家族企业也面临着诸多挑战.因此,为促进家族企业成功传承和持续成长,应该健全相关法律法规和社会信用制度,引导家族企业内部管理团队的构建,保障家族企业财产的整体性继承并尽早制定家族企业继任计划等.     

Social Standards: Toward an Active Ethical Involvement of Businesses in Developing Countries

As a consequence of the changing conditions of doing business, we can observe the emergence of an increasing number of industrial and company-specific codes of conduct, as well as social and environmental standards. This paper considers these initiatives as being self-regulating governance mechanisms, which are characterized by a process of voluntary adherence on the part of firms to certain mechanisms or principles that seek to promote a “good society.” Two specific internationally established standards are discussed: Social Accountability 8000 (SA 8000) and AccountAbility 1000 (AA 1000). These institutionalized approaches are described and then contrasted in relation to a number of different factors, particularly the degree to which they foster “reflexivity,” in terms of how businesses think about these issues, and “dialog,” in terms of how businesses interact with stakeholders. Such questions are relevant to the ways in which these standards might be introduced and implemented, and which of these institutionalized approaches are the most promising for international businesses in developing countries. Dr. Thomas Beschorner is the head of the Social Learning and Sustainability Research Group in the Faculty of Business, Economics, and Law, University of Oldenburg, Germany. He is currently a Visiting Professor in the Department of Sociology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Dr. Martin Müller is an Associate Professor for Production and Environment in the Faculty of Business, Economics, and Law, University of Oldenburg, Germany.     

Existing Self-Employment: An Analysis of Asian Immigrant-Owned Small Businesses

Part of the uniqueness of the immigrant Asian business community in the U.S. lies in the fact that many among the highly educated pursue self-employment in small-scale, low-yielding retail and personal service fields. This study analyzes owner departure for a nationwide sample of small businesses owned by Asian Indian and Filipino immigrants and a comparison group of Asian nonimmigrant firm owners. Controlling for firm and owner traits, highly educated Asian immigrant owners are more likely than others to exit self-employment over the 1987--1991 period; exit from traditional fields (retail and personal services) is pronounced. These exit patterns do not typify the comparison group. Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that self-employment is often a form of underemployment among Asian immigrants.     

发达国家中小企业税收政策评介及借鉴

发达国家在税收方面采取了一些特别的措施,以改善中小企业的经济与技术环境,方便中小企业的创业与发展。本文分析了主要发达国家对中小企业的税收政策特点,认为我国实施的有关中小企业的税收优惠措施存在明显不足,我们应借鉴发达国家的成功经验,尽早建立超我国中小企业税收政策支持体系。     

Environment and Performance of Family Businesses in the Reforming Polish Economy

Abstract

In the former planned economies, a major result of the economic reform programs has been the resurgence of private sector. As recent research has been unable to explain what leads to substantive growth performance in family businesses in Central and Eastern Europe, this study seeks to increase our understanding of the growth process in small businesses in the region. The paper attempts to identify the types of problems and impediments Polish small family businesses confront. The paper investigates the association of various problems with a firm's stage of growth and development using a sample of one hundred family businesses that operate in the southern region of Poland.     

Capital Growth,Financing Source and Profitability of Small Businesses: Evidence from Taiwan Small Enterprises

This paper examines the relationship between profitability and financial capital for 1,276 small firms in Taiwan over the period 1992–1997. The results indicate a statistically positive relationship between profitability and capital growth. When financial capital is further divided into debt and equity, the results indicate a significantly positive relationship between profitability and equity financing, but a significantly negative relationship between profitability and debt financing. Moreover, the profitability of small firms is positively related to both the external economic conditions and the firms previous profitability.     

The Nature of Managerial Work in Small Growth-Orientated Businesses

In this study we explore the daily managerial behaviour of managers of small growth-orientated businesses and contrast it to previous research of managers in large organisations. We also investigate if one background characteristic, the owner–managers functional experience, is related to daily managerial activity. More specifically, we seek to strengthen the ‘managerial work’ tradition through a replication of Mintzberg’s work (The Nature of Managerial Work, New York: Harper and Row 1973) and an extension of the ‘managerial work’ tradition to another contingency, that of small growth- oriented businesses. The study is based on direct observations of ten CEOs of small growth-orientated businesses. The research provides evidence that organisational size is an important determinant of the nature of managerial work. However, in exploring the variability that may occur in managerial work within a given size context, we failed to establish a relationship between the owner–manager’s functional experiences and daily functional work orientation. The article concludes by speculating why the nature of managerial work in small growth-orientated businesses may provide a template for management in larger (more bureaucratic) organisations.     

新型农村合作医疗的福利效应分析：微观数据的证据

利用2000年和2006年的中国健康与营养调查(CHNS)数据和倍差方法,以参合农民为作用组,非参合农民为对照组,对新型农村合作医疗政策的福利效应作了实证分析。新型农村合作医疗政策增加了医疗服务利用;但新型农村合作医疗政策对净医疗费用(扣除合作医疗补偿后的费用)没有影响。     

新型农村合作医疗的福利效应分析:微观数据的证据

利用2000年和2006年的中国健康与营养调查(CHNS)数据和倍差方法,以参合农民为作用组,非参合农民为对照组,对新型农村合作医疗政策的福利效应作了实证分析.新型农村合作医疗政策增加了医疗服务利用;但新型农村合作医疗政策对净医疗费用(扣除合作医疗补偿后的费用)没有影响.