Nature and Significance of Family Business

One of the first tasks to confront the serious student of family business, or as some prefer it, ‘family enterprise’, as a field of scholarly inquiry, is to determine what is meant by the term. Researchers from academia and consulting organisations are not the only ones grappling with the definition. Based on the authors’ numerous conversations with journalists pursuing some hot story involving conflict between members of a family who are in business together, the question is often posed: ‘Tell me, what is a family business really?’ Turning to owning families for help, unfortunately, is not particularly fruitful. The authors have served for several years on the faculty of the International Institute for Management Development’s Leading the Family Business (LFB) programme. The marketing of LFB makes it quite clear that the workshop is only intended (with very few exceptions) for those who presently lead (or own) or who will lead (or own) their own family’s enterprise. The opening question at LFB has traditionally been: ‘What does the term ‘family business or enterprise’ mean to you?’ The range of responses is large and idiosyncratic to the point that some participants wonder whether or not their newly met colleagues are unwelcome interlopers!