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Pruning the family tree

It is assumed that over the generations family businesses inevitably face greater family complexity. The increasing family complexity can have repercussions for the family and the business. To counteract these negative effects of an increase in family complexity, it has been recommended that busine...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lambrecht, Johan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2008
LEADER 01322nab a22001217a 4500
008 160615b2008 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100 |a Lambrecht, Johan 
245 |a Pruning the family tree  |c an unexplored path to family business continuity and family 
260 |c 2008 
300 |a 295 - 313 
520 |a It is assumed that over the generations family businesses inevitably face greater family complexity. The increasing family complexity can have repercussions for the family and the business. To counteract these negative effects of an increase in family complexity, it has been recommended that business families utilize conventional family and corporate governance methods. Pruning the family tree is an alternative method of handling family complexity. However, this alternative way has been largely ignored in research. This article explores the research question: Why and how do business families prune the family tree, thus simplifying the ownership, governance, and/or management structures of the family business? The research findings indicate that introducing simplicity by pruning can be a worthwhile path to family harmony and business performance and that there is no contradiction between pruning the family tree and governance of the family and the business. 
773 |a Family Business Review  |d Dec 
999 |c 43655  |d 43655