Generations in Family Business: A Multifield Review and Future Research Agenda

Abstract

The concept of generations has become increasingly important in the social science fields to explain diverse phenomena affecting organizations. This is especially true in the family business field where generations are considered a constitutive element. Nevertheless, there is still a limited understanding of generations and the implications of their involvement in family business. We review prior studies on generations by considering different social science fields, which we analyze according to a novel theoretical framework. Building on this framework, and placing particular emphasis on family firms, we identify important knowledge gaps that serve as a springboard for future research.

Identity in Family Firms: Toward an Integrative Understanding

“…At the group level, our review reveals that, although group-level identity work emerged already one decade ago, it has largely remained an overlooked topic, with only two papers written so far (see Figure 1). Considering the importance of the family in this context, and the central role of generations as a constitutive element of family firms (Magrelli et al, 2022), we call for more research that explores the family’s role in maintaining a family identity, and how family identity changes across generations or due to critical events that have consequences on the business. For instance, scholars might leverage family science (e.g., Jaskiewicz & Dyer, 2017) to examine the different features of family identity work’s antecedents, outcomes, and contingencies.…”

Talking About (My) Generation: The Use of Generation as Rhetorical History in Family Business

“…“Generation” is a central but largely taken-for-granted concept in family business studies (Gersick et al, 1997; Miller et al, 2003). A recent literature review (Magrelli et al, 2022) shows that family business scholarship predominantly relies on a narrow and literal understanding of generation as a biologically determined sequence of family members over time (e.g., first-, second-, and third-generation). For example, family business studies use generation when examining succession processes, exploring how various resources are transferred between different family generations (Hillebrand, 2019; Kellermanns & Eddleston, 2004; Mazzola et al, 2008).…”

How to observe business operations: An empirical study of family business

“…Family business succession is a long-term process involving three elements: the predecessor, the successor, and the succession process [ 12 , 15 ]. Undoubtedly, the source of evidence for its analysis should mainly be the retrospective interview data of crucial persons [ 3 , 4 , 16 ].…”