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Looking in the Other Direction: An Ethnographic Analysis of How Family Businesses Can Be Operated to Enhance Familial Well-Being

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  • Onnolee Nordstrom
  • Jennifer E. Jennings

Abstract

While much family business research has examined how family ownership affects businesses, this paper raises a question consistent with enquiries in the latter direction: How can family firms be operated to enhance the well-being of owning families and their members? We address this question by analyzing ethnographic data collected from an “extreme case†of both family enterprising and familial well-being: Hutterite colonies in Western Canada. Our findings suggest three enterprise-level strategies and three task-level practices that strengthen family member satisfaction and family system effectiveness.

Suggested Citation

  • Onnolee Nordstrom & Jennifer E. Jennings, 2018. "Looking in the Other Direction: An Ethnographic Analysis of How Family Businesses Can Be Operated to Enhance Familial Well-Being," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(2), pages 317-339, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:42:y:2018:i:2:p:317-339
    DOI: 10.1177/1042258717749236
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Isabelle Le Breton-Miller & Danny Miller & Lloyd P. Steier, 2018. "Governance Mechanisms and Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(2), pages 171-186, March.
    4. Dieudonnee Cobben & Petra C. M. Neessen & Diana Rus & Nadine Roijakkers, 2023. "How family firms use governance mechanisms to mitigate the risks of ecosystems: a case study from healthcare," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(4), pages 1369-1388, April.
    5. Le Breton-Miller, Isabelle & Miller, Danny, 2023. "Contradiction and disaggregation for family firm research," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(1).
    6. Hanna Maria Sievinen & Tuuli Ikäheimonen & Timo Pihkala, 2022. "The role of dyadic interactions between CEOs, chairs and owners in family firm governance," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 26(1), pages 223-253, March.
    7. Chitra Singla & Ludvig Levasseur, 2023. "The role of family in unfolding the process of external corporate venturing in small family businesses," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 105-126, June.

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