Working for the Family

Globally, family-owned small businesses outnumber
large public corporations by a wide margin. They are
a tremendous force in the economies of many nations.
Yet they are sometimes described as "closely held"
businesses because of the complicated, personal
nature of their ownership and management. The
management teams of small family business often
contain multiple family members who have especially
complex relationships with their family member
coworkers and the business itself. Working alongside
them are professionals that are not related to the
business-owning family and who may never have a
chance to own a stake in the business they help make
successful. This book examines the management teams
of four small family business in the US to describe
how family managers and nonfamily managers interact
to make decisions together. The author uses social
network analysis to illustrate how the management
team members of both subgroups view the decision
making process and uses interviews to gain insight
into the meaning behind their views.

Autorentext

Brenton received his doctorate from the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University. He specializes in the application of Organizational Psychology, and has worked with a variety of settings from non-profit organizations to small family businesses to global corporations.

Klappentext

Globally, family-owned small businesses outnumber large public corporations by a wide margin. They are a tremendous force in the economies of many nations. Yet they are sometimes described as "closely held" businesses because of the complicated, personal nature of their ownership and management. The management teams of small family business often contain multiple family members who have especially complex relationships with their family member coworkers and the business itself. Working alongside them are professionals that are not related to the business-owning family and who may never have a chance to own a stake in the business they help make successful. This book examines the management teams of four small family business in the US to describe how family managers and nonfamily managers interact to make decisions together. The author uses social network analysis to illustrate how the management team members of both subgroups view the decision making process and uses interviews to gain insight into the meaning behind their views.