Family-owned businesses in the global marketplace: A taxonomy for generational evolution and directions for future research

Abstract

The words “global company” often conjure up images of large, publicly-traded organizations, while the words “family-owned business” may evoke images of small, tightly held companies. However, some of the world’s largest global companies are actually family-owned businesses. Global marketing research has paid little attention to investigating decision making and behavior in family-owned businesses. It has paid even less attention to the important role that women play in leading family-owned businesses. This chapter illuminates these gaps. The current study builds on extant theory about family business cultural impacts on succession using a multidimensional model of succession that adapts stewardship theory while including the previously under-researched perspectives of family-owned businesses.

Keywords: Family-Owned Business, Succession, Women