Dysfunctional Family Management : Family-Managed Businesses and the Quality of Management Practices

Better managed firms perform better. Existing evidence has shown that family-managed firms have poorer management practices. Several reasons have been proposed. Limiting to family members reduces the talent pool of potential managers. Family management creates disincentives for other talented workers given that the environment is not meritocratic. Family managers themselves may be less motivated given that they may not have to compete for the position. This study scales up the evidence by exploring the relationship between family managers and management practices for about 9,000 medium and large firms across 41 developing and advanced economies. The study contributes to the literature by investigating several internal and external operating factors that attenuate or accentuate the relationship between family management and the quality of management practices. The engagement of governments in terms of corruption and political connections is found to be influential.