Dilemma in the Family-Owned Businesses: Business Commitment vs. Family Commitment. Is Success Changing The Balance?

Abstract

The paper examines the commitment relationship that exists between family and the business they own. The study builds on the previous work done on family attitudes and family involvement and identifies two types of family commitment: the family centered commitment and family commitment towards the business they own, called business centered commitment. The relationship between the two types of commitment and the performance of the family business is scrutinized. Results show that family centered commitment is higher when businesses are not performing well and business centered committment tends to be higher when businesses are high performers.