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Blood Is Not Always Thicker Than Water: A Family Business Case Study, Hai Ta, Todd M. Inouye, Shih-Jen Kathy Ho, Vincent Agnello

Journal of Religion and Business Ethics

According to the US Census Bureau, 90% of businesses in the U.S. are family-owned or controlled. Unfortunately, the succession rates for family-owned businesses are dismal. Only 30% survive a transfer from the founder to a child and only 11% survive a second transfer to the third generation. Two major factors that contribute to this are lack of succession planning and failure to deal with family conflict, both of which are management failures and are often intertwined. Failure to properly manage the family fosters a sense of unfairness, unequal workload, and perhaps a free-rider problem among family members. This not only …