PurposeThis paper seeks to investigate how familiness and entrepreneurial leadership are related to each other in family firms. Familiness and entrepreneurial leadership are viewed as resources for strategic entrepreneurship. The aim of the paper is to shed light on familiness in three family firms and contribute to the field's growing body of work.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs a case study method. The interviewees were interviewed by theme questions and secondary information was gathered to strengthen the empirical section. Qualitative interpretation of empirical data was used.FindingsThe findings demonstrate the variety of familiness and entrepreneurial leadership within family firms. The degree of familiness varies between firms and the nature of entrepreneurial leadership also differs. The findings suggest that familiness is related to entrepreneurial leadership. It is a resource for strategic entrepreneurship in family firms.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitation of the study is the case study method. The paper is based on qualitative and interpretive approach. The paper endeavours to understand familiness related to entrepreneurial leadership rather than generalise the results statistically.Practical implicationsThe paper offers a perspective for business schools in teaching leadership for family firms. Education needs to be tailored to meet the relevant needs. Benchmarking from this case study offers one pathway for this.Originality/valueThe study contributes to research on structural, cognitive, and relational familiness. The paper shows that informal relations and flexibility are typical for entrepreneurial leadership in family firms.

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PurposeThis qualitative study attempts to understand what kinds of evolutionary selection and variation occur in family businesses during the preparation of a managerial and ownership succession.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted by interviewing members of one family business in Louisiana, USA and one in Finland in order to contribute to the understanding of succession preparation in small family businesses with two generations. Evolutionary economics was adapted for this interdisciplinary study to explain evolutionary changes in a family business succession.FindingsThe findings indicate that both selection and variation can take place through different routes during the preparatory phase of a family business succession. Selection is influenced both by the founder and next generations. However, it does not occur in company A due to the reluctance of the younger generation. In company B selection is processed through joint thinking and visioning. This will lead to variation which is shaped by both generations.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is based on qualitative interpretation. Limitations of the study are the small number of informants and the lack of generalization of the results.Practical implicationsThis study shows that selection and variation are intertwined. If selection does not occur in a family business, it leads to no variation between the generations. However, exits are possible; death and birth of companies are part of the life cycle of family businesses.Originality/valueEvolutionary thinking has not been studied recently among family firms except in the field of evolutionary psychology. Evolutionary thinking offers a variety of topics to study in the future.

AbstractThe aim of this qualitative research is to analyze university students’ attitudes toward family entrepreneurship. The theoretical framework of the study analyzes the interaction between family business, ownership, and entrepreneurship education. 211 students from the University of Jyväskylä participated in the study during the basic business study course “Introduction to Entrepreneurship and Business Operations” in September 2007. 143 of those wrote a one page essay, either in Finnish or English, on family entrepreneurship and family business ownership. The students were told to write about the phenomena in their own words. The results were analyzed with content analysis in order to understand how to improve the development of family business entrepreneurship education. The results of the study show that family businesses are perceived through the concept of family: a family owns, works in, and manages a family business. Students perceive family businesses as small businesses that employ people locally. Entrepreneurship motivates students, but owning a family business was perceived as unattractive. The results of the study can be utilized in family business entrepreneurship education.