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A 'family business' is a company owned, controlled, and operated by members of one or several families. Many companies that are now publicly held were founded as family businesses. Many family businesses have non-family members as employees, but, particularly in smaller companies, the top positions are often allocated to family members.
Family participation in a business can strengthen the business because family members are very loyal and dedicated to the family enterprise. However managing a family business, and particularly succession planning, can present some unique problems. Often family interests conflict with business interests, for example hiring a family member who is less competent than a non-family member or keeping an underperforming family member in a position when their performance is hurting the company. Psychologists are often consulted to help families successfully manage issues that affect both the family and the business.
An example of the conflict that can arise is demonstrated in a story, about Stew Leonard's Supermarket in Connecticut, about a family business owner whose son's performance was deemed unsatisfactory by his supervisor. The father told the supervisor that he would take care of it. The father asked his son to come to the family home for a talk in the hot tub. When they were settled in the tub the father put on a hat which he said was his 'Boss' hat and told his son that he was fired. He then removed that hat and put on another calling it his 'Father' hat. Then he said: "Son, I'm very sorry to hear that you lost your job. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Contents

Examples of family businesses

See also

Literature

External links

Articles

Examples of family businesses

★ Cargill

★ Ford Motor Company

★ Koch Industries

★ Matthew Algie

★ Mills Fleet Farm

★ SC Johnson Company

★ Tetra Pak

★ Wal-Mart

★ William Grant & Sons

★ Vanee Foods Company

See also

★ List of oldest family businesses

Literature

★ Wise Growth Strategies in Leading Family Businesses

★ Hennerkes, Brun-Hagen: Die Familie und ihr Unternehmen. Frankfurt/ New York: Campus 2005, ISBN 33593-37562-1

External links

★ Kellogg School of Management's Center for Family Enterprises

★ UMass Family Business Center: World's Largest Free Family Business Resource

★ Wisconsin Family Business Forum - Fostering Healthy Family Businesses

★ Leading the Family Business

★ Harvard Business School Families in Business Program

★ Stiftung Familienunternehmen Charitable Foundation for Family Enterprises/ Businesses in Germany and Europe

★ The Henokiens Association of bicentenarian family companies

★ Family Business Institute

★ Family Enterprise Publishers

★ IMD Family Business Center

★ Wendel International Centre for Family Enterprise at INSEAD

★ Family Firm Institute

★ Family Business Network

★ Centre for Family Business, Waterloo Ontario

★ Institute for Family Business

★ Loyola University Chicago Family Business Center

★ Canadian Association of Family Enterprise

★ Successful Family Business: Tradition vs. Merit

★ 250+ free articles about succeeding in your family business, advice column, info about family business plays, and more

★ The Goering Center for Family & Private Business

★ Prosperare: Understanding Latin American Family Business: Consulting and Research

★ Family Business Magazine

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★ Oldest Family Businesses in US

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★ Largest Family Businesses in US

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★ Oldest Family Businesses in World

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★ Largest Family Businesses in World

Articles

★ Family Lies: Fraud in Family Business