An Exploratory Comparison of the Behavioral Dynamics of Top Management Teams in Family and Nonfamily New Ventures: Cohesion, Conflict, Potency, and Consensus

Abstract

While some researchers propose that the combination of family and business creates a need for trade-offs in family and business demands, we argue that the social system of the family creates a synergy in the top management team (TMT) that is not present in TMTs with less "familiness." We argue that the unique dynamics created by the social aspects of the familyowned firm will result in higher cohesion, potency, task conflict, and shared strategic consensus than those TMTs with less "familiness." Discriminant analysis of three groups of TMTs (parental, familial, and nonfamily) was conducted on a sample of 224 TMTs of new ventures to explore our propositions.The family business creates a unique management situation that results in both advantages and disadvantages to the firm. Chrisman, Chua, and Sharma (2003) state that "the family firm exists because of the reciprocal economic and noneconomic value created through the combination of family and business systems. In other words, the confluence of the two systems leads to hard-to-duplicate capabilities of 'familiness' that make family business particularly suited to survive and grow" (p. 6).

The role of family ownership in international entrepreneurship: exploring nonlinear effects

“…Although previous research has highlighted that some conflicts, such as task and process conflicts, may have positive effects for sustainability Eddleston 2004, 2007), empirical studies have confirmed that relationship conflicts hamper the functioning of the family business Ensley and Pearson 2005). Family firms are fertile grounds for such conflicts (Boles 1996;Miller and Rice 1988;Swartz 1989) because divergent groups may pursue competing goals (Gersick et al 1997).…”

Sustainability in SMEs: Top Management Teams Behavioral Integration as Source of Innovativeness

“…Accordingly, 160 usable and completed responses from 40 TMTs were included in the final dataset [13] (4 TMT member from 40 SMEs). Considering previous studies conducted in the TMT context, our sample size was within the acceptable range of 20-100 teams [5,13,29,34,53,[75][76][77][78].…”

Family Business Research: Roads Travelled and the Search for Unworn Paths

“…After all, family businesses, by definition, are founded and led by teams rather than by individuals, and these teams are responsible for the development and implementation of the firm's decisions. As noted by Ensley and Pearson (2005), "it is within this complex web of social involvement and interactions embedded in the social structure of the family that the advantages of the family firm can be identified" (p. 268). Management teams in family businesses can consist of multiple family, or perhaps nonfamily, members (Cater & Justis, 2010).…”