Family small businesses: definition, 'essence' and 'true' prevalence. (29th November 2010)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Calvin
• Is Part Of: International journal of entrepreneurial venturing. Volume 2:Number 3/4(2010)
• Page Start: 276
• Page End: 290
• Publication Date: 2010-11-29
• Subjects: family businesses -- small and medium-sized enterprises -- SMEs -- succession -- entrepreneurial families -- definitions -- economic contributions -- company prevalence -- vision -- managerial intentions -- owner behaviour -- Perth -- Western Australia -- entrepreneurial venturing -- business ventures -- entrepreneurs -- entrepreneurship -- entrepreneurialism -- family firms; Entrepreneurship -- Periodicals; Business enterprises -- Periodicals; 658.42105
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1742-5360

Abstract

The rapid growth of the family business field is based on the purported prevalence and economic contributions of the family firm. However, such estimations are highly dependent on the question of what in fact constitutes a 'family business'. Unfortunately, a universally accepted definition remains an elusive outcome for the field. It has been suggested that any definition used should capture the 'essence' of the family business by focusing on the vision, intentions and behaviour of people who own, govern and/or manage the business. Since the majority of family businesses are small businesses, this paper applies the 'essence' criterion to empirically explore the 'true' prevalence of the family firm in a sample of small businesses. Findings and their implications for defining the family business are presented.