IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jmgtco/v28y2018i4d10.1007_s00187-018-0258-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The use of value-based management in family firms

Author

Listed:
  • Christian Brück

    (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)

  • Jonas Ludwig

    (University of Bayreuth)

  • Anja Schwering

    (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)

Abstract

This study examines determinants of the use of value-based management (VBM) and its performance measures in family firms. Family firms constitute an important part of the economy but mostly have no capital market orientation. Although agency conflicts between free float shareholders and managers are thus unlikely to increase the need for VBM, other types of agency conflicts can occur in family firms. Therefore, we conduct a survey and find that, as predicted, privately held family firms also tend to use VBM when facing current or upcoming agency conflicts. This is particularly the case when family firms have been concerned with managerial succession and now exhibit a non-family executive board or if managerial succession will be a future concern. Moreover, a large degree of international business activities serves as another driver of the use of VBM. In these contexts, VBM can help family firms to improve decision-making quality by enabling consistent and goal-congruent decision support and performance measurement. Overall, our findings provide a better understanding of the management accounting choices and internal decision-making of family firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian Brück & Jonas Ludwig & Anja Schwering, 2018. "The use of value-based management in family firms," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 383-416, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jmgtco:v:28:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s00187-018-0258-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s00187-018-0258-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00187-018-0258-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00187-018-0258-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alchian, Armen A & Demsetz, Harold, 1972. "Production , Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 777-795, December.
    2. Villalonga, Belen & Amit, Raphael, 2006. "How do family ownership, control and management affect firm value?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 385-417, May.
    3. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1989. "Management entrenchment : The case of manager-specific investments," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 123-139, November.
    4. Anonymous, 1965. "Organization of American States," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(1), pages 145-150, January.
    5. Stulz, ReneM., 1988. "Managerial control of voting rights : Financing policies and the market for corporate control," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 25-54, January.
    6. Ittner, Christopher D. & Larcker, David F., 2001. "Assessing empirical research in managerial accounting: a value-based management perspective," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1-3), pages 349-410, December.
    7. Anderson, Ronald C. & Mansi, Sattar A. & Reeb, David M., 2003. "Founding family ownership and the agency cost of debt," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 263-285, May.
    8. Danny Miller & Isabelle Le Breton‐Miller & Barry Scholnick, 2008. "Stewardship vs. Stagnation: An Empirical Comparison of Small Family and Non‐Family Businesses," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 51-78, January.
    9. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    10. Ralph Kober & Thanesvary Subraamanniam & John Watson, 2012. "The impact of total quality management adoption on small and medium enterprises’ financial performance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 52(2), pages 421-438, June.
    11. Henri C. Dekker & Tom Groot & Martijn Schoute & Eelke Wiersma, 2012. "Determinants of the Use of Value-based Performance Measures for Managerial Performance Evaluation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(9-10), pages 1214-1239, November.
    12. Peer C. Fiss & Mark T. Kennedy & Gerald F. Davis, 2012. "How Golden Parachutes Unfolded: Diffusion and Variation of a Controversial Practice," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(4), pages 1077-1099, August.
    13. Baiman, Stanley, 1990. "Agency research in managerial accounting: A second look," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 341-371.
    14. David G. Sirmon & Michael A. Hitt, 2003. "Managing Resources: Linking Unique Resources, Management, and Wealth Creation in Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 27(4), pages 339-358, October.
    15. Henry Hansmann & Reinier Kraakman, 2000. "The End Of History For Corporate Law," Yale School of Management Working Papers ysm136, Yale School of Management, revised 01 Feb 2001.
    16. Ulf Olsson, 1979. "Maximum likelihood estimation of the polychoric correlation coefficient," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 44(4), pages 443-460, December.
    17. Bushman, Robert & Chen, Qi & Engel, Ellen & Smith, Abbie, 2004. "Financial accounting information, organizational complexity and corporate governance systems," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 167-201, June.
    18. Shuping Chen & Xia Chen & Qiang Cheng, 2008. "Do Family Firms Provide More or Less Voluntary Disclosure?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 499-536, June.
    19. Ross, Stephen A, 1973. "The Economic Theory of Agency: The Principal's Problem," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 63(2), pages 134-139, May.
    20. Michael Lubatkin & William S. Schulze & Richard N. Dino, 2003. "Exploring the agency consequences of ownership dispersion among the directors of private family firms," Post-Print hal-02276698, HAL.
    21. William G. Ouchi, 1979. "A Conceptual Framework for the Design of Organizational Control Mechanisms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(9), pages 833-848, September.
    22. Harley E. Ryan & Emery A. Trahan, 2007. "Corporate Financial Control Mechanisms and Firm Performance: The Case of Value-Based Management Systems," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1-2), pages 111-138.
    23. Chenhall, Robert H., 2003. "Management control systems design within its organizational context: findings from contingency-based research and directions for the future," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(2-3), pages 127-168.
    24. Wallace, James S., 1997. "Adopting residual income-based compensation plans: Do you get what you pay for?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 275-300, December.
    25. David Hillier & Patrick McColgan, 2009. "Firm Performance and Managerial Succession in Family Managed Firms," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3‐4), pages 461-484, April.
    26. Habbershon, Timothy G. & Williams, Mary & MacMillan, Ian C., 2003. "A unified systems perspective of family firm performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 451-465, July.
    27. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Separation of Ownership and Control," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 301-325, June.
    28. Thomas Pfeiffer, 2004. "Net Present Value-Consistent Investment Criteria Based on Accruals: A Generalisation of the Residual Income-Identity," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7-8), pages 905-926.
    29. Harvey James, 1999. "Owner as Manager, Extended Horizons and the Family Firm," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 41-55.
    30. Armstrong, J. Scott & Overton, Terry S., 1977. "Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys," MPRA Paper 81694, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    31. John Hulland, 1999. "Use of partial least squares (PLS) in strategic management research: a review of four recent studies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(2), pages 195-204, February.
    32. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    33. Sudhakar V. Balachandran, 2006. "How Does Residual Income Affect Investment? The Role of Prior Performance Measures," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(3), pages 383-394, March.
    34. Hanqinq “Chevy†Fang & Robert V.D.G. Randolph & Esra Memili & James J. Chrisman, 2016. "Does Size Matter? The Moderating Effects of Firm Size on the Employment of Nonfamily Managers in Privately Held Family SMEs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(5), pages 1017-1039, September.
    35. Nitin Nohria & Sumantra Ghoshal, 1994. "Differentiated fit and shared values: Alternatives for managing headquarters‐subsidiary relations," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(6), pages 491-502, July.
    36. Chrisman, James J. & Chua, Jess H. & Kellermanns, Franz W. & Chang, Erick P.C., 2007. "Are family managers agents or stewards? An exploratory study in privately held family firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(10), pages 1030-1038, October.
    37. Sanford J. Grossman & Oliver D. Hart, 1980. "Takeover Bids, the Free-Rider Problem, and the Theory of the Corporation," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 11(1), pages 42-64, Spring.
    38. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding-Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1327, June.
    39. Aiyesha Dey, 2008. "Corporate Governance and Agency Conflicts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(5), pages 1143-1181, December.
    40. William S. Schulze & Michael H. Lubatkin & Richard N. Dino & Ann K. Buchholtz, 2001. "Agency Relationships in Family Firms: Theory and Evidence," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(2), pages 99-116, April.
    41. Dechun Wang, 2006. "Founding Family Ownership and Earnings Quality," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3), pages 619-656, June.
    42. Harley E. Ryan & Emery A. Trahan, 2007. "Corporate Financial Control Mechanisms and Firm Performance: The Case of Value‐Based Management Systems," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1‐2), pages 111-138, January.
    43. Luis R. Gomez‐Mejia & Marianna Makri & Martin Larraza Kintana, 2010. "Diversification Decisions in Family‐Controlled Firms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 223-252, March.
    44. Ali, Ashiq & Chen, Tai-Yuan & Radhakrishnan, Suresh, 2007. "Corporate disclosures by family firms," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1-2), pages 238-286, September.
    45. Limei Che & John Christian Langli, 2015. "Governance Structure and Firm Performance in Private Family Firms," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(9-10), pages 1216-1250, November.
    46. Thomas Pfeiffer, 2004. "Net Present Value‐Consistent Investment Criteria Based on Accruals: A Generalisation of the Residual Income‐Identity," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7‐8), pages 905-926, September.
    47. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding‐Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1328, June.
    48. David Hillier & Patrick McColgan, 2009. "Firm Performance and Managerial Succession in Family Managed Firms," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3-4), pages 461-484.
    49. Annalisa Prencipe & Sasson Bar-Yosef & Henri C. Dekker, 2014. "Accounting Research in Family Firms: Theoretical and Empirical Challenges," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(3), pages 361-385, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Martin R. W. Hiebl & Martin Quinn & Justin B. Craig & Ken Moores, 2018. "Management control in family firms: a guest editorial," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 377-381, February.
    2. Mattias Sandgren & Timur Uman & Mattias Nordqvist, 2023. "Accountants in family firms—a systematic literature review," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 349-388, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Songini, Lucrezia & Gnan, Luca & Malmi, Teemu, 2013. "The role and impact of accounting in family business," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 71-83.
    2. Audretsch, David B. & Hülsbeck, Marcel & Lehmann, Erik E., 2013. "Families as active monitors of firm performance," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 118-130.
    3. César Camisón-Zornoza & Beatriz Forés-Julián & Alba Puig-Denia & Sergio Camisón-Haba, 0. "Effects of ownership structure and corporate and family governance on dynamic capabilities in family firms," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-34.
    4. César Camisón-Zornoza & Beatriz Forés-Julián & Alba Puig-Denia & Sergio Camisón-Haba, 2020. "Effects of ownership structure and corporate and family governance on dynamic capabilities in family firms," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 1393-1426, December.
    5. Wright, Mike & Kellermanns, Franz W., 2011. "Family firms: A research agenda and publication guide," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 187-198.
    6. Isabelle Le Breton–Miller & Danny Miller, 2006. "Why Do Some Family Businesses Out–Compete? Governance, Long–Term Orientations, and Sustainable Capability," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 30(6), pages 731-746, November.
    7. Chih-Yang Tseng, 2020. "Family firms and long-term orientation of SG&A expenditures," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 1181-1206, November.
    8. Naeem Tabassum & Satwinder Singh, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Organisational Performance," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-48527-6, December.
    9. Attig, Najah & Chen, Ruiyuan & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Kwok, Chuck & Pittman, Jeffrey, 2020. "Are insiders equal? Evidence from earnings management in closely held East Asian firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    10. Michael Carney & Marc Van Essen & Eric R. Gedajlovic & Pursey P.M.A.R. Heugens, 2015. "What do we know about Private Family Firms? A Meta–Analytical Review," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(3), pages 513-544, May.
    11. Giulio Greco & Lorenzo Neri, 2021. "Accounting discretion in family firms: The case of goodwill write-off. Evidence from US firms," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(1), pages 5-28.
    12. Zellweger, Thomas M. & Kellermanns, Franz W. & Eddleston, Kimberly A. & Memili, Esra, 2012. "Building a family firm image: How family firms capitalize on their family ties," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 239-250.
    13. Hiebl, Martin R.W., 2013. "Bean counter or strategist? Differences in the role of the CFO in family and non-family businesses," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 147-161.
    14. Praet, Alain, 2013. "Family firms and the divestment decision: An agency perspective," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 34-41.
    15. David G. Sirmon & Jean–Luc Arregle & Michael A. Hitt & Justin W. Webb, 2008. "The Role of Family Influence in Firms’ Strategic Responses to Threat of Imitation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 32(6), pages 979-998, November.
    16. Limei Che & Pingying Zhang, 2017. "The impact of family CEO’s ownership and the moderating effect of the second largest owner in private family firms," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 21(3), pages 757-784, September.
    17. Erbetta, Fabrizio & Menozzi, Anna & Corbetta, Guido & Fraquelli, Giovanni, 2013. "Assessing family firm performance using frontier analysis techniques: Evidence from Italian manufacturing industries," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 106-117.
    18. Christophe J. Godlewski & Hong Nhung Le, 2024. "Family ties and firm performance empirical evidence from East Asia," Post-Print hal-04435944, HAL.
    19. Mazzi, Chiara, 2011. "Family business and financial performance: Current state of knowledge and future research challenges," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 166-181.
    20. Xiaoxiang Zhang & Jo-Ting Wei & Hsin-Hung Wu, 2013. "Forced financial information restatements and management turnover: Market discipline and large family shareholders’ intervention in an emerging economy," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 30(4), pages 1005-1029, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Value-based management; Family firms; Family business; Management and control systems;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
    • M40 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jmgtco:v:28:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s00187-018-0258-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.