Business Commons^™

Strategic Planning In Family Business: A Powerful Developmental Tool For The Next Generation, Pietro Mazzola, Gaia Marchisio, Joseph Astrachan

Gaia Marchisio

This article addresses the issue of training next-generation family members once they have joined the management team in their family firm. The qualitative analysis of strategic planning processes of 18 Italian family firms shows that involving next-generation family members in the planning process benefits their developmental process. The findings indicate that this involvement provides the next generation with crucial tacit business knowledge and skills, facilitating interpersonal work relationships between incumbents and next-generation leaders and building credibility and legitimacy for the next generation. The comparative analysis of the cases allowed us to identify the five variables that seem to combine in …

Corporate Venturing In Family Business: The Effects On The Family And Its Members, Gaia Marchisio, Pietro Mazzola, Salvatore Sciascia, M. Miles, Joseph Astrachan

Gaia Marchisio

Previous literature on corporate entrepreneurship (CE) in family business (FB) focusses on the determinants of CE and presents conflicting results on its effects on firm-level performance. We argue that previous studies have overlooked the idea of FBs being complex social systems comprising three components, controlling families, business entities and individual family members; and any business activity in a FB should also be studied with respect to its effects on the family and individual family members, which ultimately impacts the performance. Moreover, previous FB literature addresses CE as a monolithic concept and does not separate its two primary types: corporate venturing …

Entrepreneurial Burnout: Exploring Antecedents, Dimensions And Outcomes, C. David Shepherd, Gaia Marchisio, Sussie Morrish, Jonathan Deacon, Morgan Miles

Gaia Marchisio

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conceptually and empirically explore the antecedents and consequences of entrepreneurial burnout – that is burnout related to the process of discovery or creation of attractive economic opportunities, the assessment of these opportunities, and the decision on the exploitation of opportunities. Design/methodology/approach – This study is a survey of entrepreneurs in New Zealand who were alumni of a university sponsored executive development course for owner-managers of small- and medium-sized enterprises. Findings – It is found that role stress is positively related to burnout and that burnout has a negative impact on organizational …

Family Business Wealth And Knowledge Transfer, Justin Craig, Keith Duncan, Frank Barbera, Manuel Eberhard, Marina Skinner

Justin B. Craig

“Knowledge transfer is the key to successful wealth transfer” After years of creating the building blocks to understand family businesses within the greater community, BDO has partnered with The Australian Centre for Family Business (ACFB) and Bond University to undertake an Australian-first report to understand the dynamics of wealth and knowledge transfer, and identify the key trends and issues that will enhance successful transitions within private businesses. This report examines the wealth and knowledge transfer intentions of 320 respondent businesses, the majority of which classified themselves as family businesses. This report will provide an insight into issues such as family-first …

Innova Technology (B): Growing The Business For Anti-Loss Devices, Desai Narasimhalu, Sarita Mathur

Arcot Desai NARASIMHALU

This case is the second part of a two-part series on Innova Technology, a technology start-up company based in Singapore. The two cases focus on: Case (A) – Developing, producing and marketing a product innovation Case (B) – Growth strategies and its related challenges for a young technology company The case is set in November 2012, two months after the launch of PROTAG, a new anti-loss device developed by Rick Tan and his partner, Jonathan Lim. Tan is the chief executive officer of Innova Technology Private Limited, the company that manufactures and sells PROTAG. After a highly successful product launch, …

Innova Technology (A): Seeking A Market For Anti-Loss Devices, Desai Narasimhalu, Sarita Mathur, Adina Wanjun Wong

Arcot Desai NARASIMHALU

This case is the first part of a two-part series on Innova Technology, a technology start-up company based in Singapore. The two cases focus on: Case (A) – Developing, producing and marketing a product innovation Case (B) – Growth strategies for a young technology company The case is set in May 2012, and begins with the protagonist, Rick Tan, chief executive officer of Innova Technology Private Limited, contemplating what his company’s go-to-market strategy should be. Tan and his business partner, Jonathan Lim, who is also the Chief Technology Officer for Innova Technology, developed PROTAG, a new anti-loss device, using Bluetooth …

Quantine: Virtualising The Interview Process, Arcot Desai Narasimhalu, Adina Wong

Arcot Desai NARASIMHALU

The case is set in January 2012, and begins with Kenneth Yap, the founder of Quantine Pte Ltd, strategising on an effective growth plan for his company. Quantine was a job candidate pre-screening service provider, which specialised in asynchronous video interviews. In the three years since its inception, market forces and internal factors had necessitated a change in its original corporate strategy. The business had started out in 2009, focusing on competency assessments for testing technical skills for the information technology industry. It also provided aptitude tests for companies to assess candidate qualities such as numerical skills and the ability …

The Role Of Organizational Learning Capabilities In Strategic Alliances, Wai Lau

Wai Kwan (Elaine) Lau

Recent studies on strategic alliance show great interest on how firms develop alliance capabilities to achieve alliance success. This study examines the relationship between organizational learning capabilities and alliance performance. The concept of organizational learning capabilities in this study is developed comprising training availability, technical expertise, and alliance experience. It proposes that a greater alliance learning capability is positively related to alliance goal achievement. The research further investigates how the inter- and intra-firm mechanism, the average level of technical expertise and alliance experience, and the gap of technical expertise and alliance experience between the partners impact alliance objectives.

Decision Making Regarding Employee Access To Training And Development In Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Proposed Study Employing The Critical Incident Technique, Alan Coetzer, Janice Redmond

Janice Redmond Dr

This paper outlines a proposed study employing the critical incident technique aimed at uncovering factors influencing owner-managers' decisions when employees in medium-sized enterprises request access to external training and development opportunities. Employees in these enterprises form part of a 'disadvantaged' group within the workforce that receives less access to formal training and development than employees in large firms. The owner-manager's decisional role is critical when considering employee access to training and development. Unfortunately, there is scant research into factors affecting owner-managers' decisions regarding employee access to a requested development opportunity in medium-sized enterprises. To address this research gap, we intend …

Decision Making Regarding Employee Access To Training And Development In Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Proposed Study Employing The Critical Incident Technique, Alan Coetzer, Janice Redmond

Alan Coetzer

This paper outlines a proposed study employing the critical incident technique aimed at uncovering factors influencing owner-managers' decisions when employees in medium-sized enterprises request access to external training and development opportunities. Employees in these enterprises form part of a 'disadvantaged' group within the workforce that receives less access to formal training and development than employees in large firms. The owner-manager's decisional role is critical when considering employee access to training and development. Unfortunately, there is scant research into factors affecting owner-managers' decisions regarding employee access to a requested development opportunity in medium-sized enterprises. To address this research gap, we intend …

Waste Recycling: Local Methods For Successful Interaction With Small Business, Elizabeth Walker, Janice Redmond, Calvin Wang

Janice Redmond Dr

Environmental management practices are common in large companies, but rare in small businesses even though, collectively, their environmental footprint is substantially greater. There is, therefore, a crucial need to engage small businesses in practices that reduce their environmental impact and assist sustainability. However, the management of environmental issues in small business is the domain of the owner-manager who is often resource poor, both financially and in the amount of time available to implement new sustainable practices. A survey of 139 small businesses in a light industrial area has provided an indication of the environmental footprint of small business by showing …

Making Plans - Home-Based Businesses, Calvin Wang, Elizabeth Walker, Janice Redmond, John Breen

Janice Redmond Dr

Home-based businesses are a ‘hidden engine’ that are poorly understood and inadequately supported, claim Calvin Wang, Elizabeth A. Walker, Janice Redmond and John Breen. They undertook research to gain more insight into this sector. Continuous economic activity is vital to Australia and the main driver for the past 20 years has been small business, often referred to by politicians as the ‘engine room’ of the economy. However, little is known about those businesses that operate from a home-base, even though these represent the largest cohort both within the small business sector and the wider business community. This is potentially an …

A Review Of Interventions To Encourage Smes To Make Environmental Improvements, Craig Parker, Janice Redmond, Mike Simpson

Janice Redmond Dr

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are an important part of the world economy but they are thought to be responsible for around 60% of all carbon dioxide emissions and 70% of all pollution. SMEs often have major problems with limited resources, limited knowledge and limited technical capabilities to deal with their own negative environmental impact. SMEs exhibit widely differing characteristics and commitment where environmental issues are concerned. Yet under these conditions they are all expected to engage in environmental improvement. Interventions that encourage environmental improvement are often polarised between regulation and legislation at one extreme and voluntary environmental agreement …

Issues For Small Businesses With Waste Management, Janice Redmond, Elizabeth Walker, Calvin Wang

Janice Redmond Dr

Participation by small and medium enterprise (SME) in corporate social responsibility issues has been found to be lacking. This is a critical issue, as individually SMEs may have little impact on the environment but their collective footprint is significant. The management style and ethical stance of the owner-manager affects business decision making and therefore has a direct impact on the environmental actions of the business. Although adoption of environmental practices to create competitive advantage has been advocated, many businesses see implementation as a cost which cannot be transferred to their customers. After a brief review of pertinent literature this paper …

The Impact Of Small Business On The Environment, Janice Redmond, Elizabeth Walker, Calvin Wang, Mike Simpson, Craig Parker

Janice Redmond Dr

Small businesses are' estimated to contribute a significant proportion of global pollution, yet there is little empirical evidence to support this claim. The main aim of this research was to conduct an exploratory analysis of small business's environmental impact in terms of waste, water and energy.

Gender Differences In Small Business Strategic Planning: Do Women Plan More Than Men?, Elizabeth Walker, Calvin Wang, Janice Redmond

Janice Redmond Dr

As the world of work changes and uncertainty continues in regard to employment conditions, more women are motivated to start their own businesses. However, many women-owned businesses are very small and appear to have limited growth capacity. There are few business role models for women in corporate Australia. So how do women break in? The evidence suggests that not only do many women have the capacity to grow their businesses, they also have the desire. Given the positive relationship between strategic planning and business success, this paper considers whether women are more likely than men to strategically plan their business …

Who Gets The Nod? Gender Issues In Successor Selection, Calvin Wang, Rowena Barrett, Elizabeth Walker, Janice Redmond

Janice Redmond Dr

This research explores the issue of gender dynamics in successor selection and specifically we seek to better understand gender biases in business succession. Traditionally daughters have been discriminated against in successor selection but with female business ownership in OECD countries projected to rise to 50%, it is important to understand the attitudes of founders towards female successors. Effective succession ensures business viability and underpins the continued economic contribution of small businesses and family businesses.

Corporate America's Search For The "Right" Direction: Outlook And Opportunities For Family Firms, A. Adams, Sheb True, Robert Winsor

Robert D. Winsor

The recent accounting scandals and corporate misdeeds of several high-profile Fortune 500 companies have left the investing public reeling. This paper highlights the attributes and characteristics of family firms that confer operational and financial performance advantages on them vis-à-vis nonfamily, or publicly controlled, firms. As a result, family firms have a unique opportunity to model the way regarding corporate reform.

Bound By Laws, Or By Values? A Multi-Level And Cross-National Approach To Understanding The Protection Of Minority Owners In Family Firms, Charles Stevens, Roland Kidwell, Robert Sprague

Robert Sprague

How do firm-level attributes and country-level institutions affect cross-national and firm-level differences in how minority owner rights in family firms are protected?

We consider differences in family dynamics, stewardship-oriented organizational culture, and countries’ legal and cultural dimensions to develop theory predicting differences in minority owner protection in family firms. We advance propositions and a model delineating the role of these key firm-level and country-level constructs.

We contribute to the literature in three ways: 1) We illustrate the importance of family dynamics for predicting the likelihood of a stewardship-oriented culture to emerge in a family firm; 2) Our multi-level and cross-national …