Understanding the Contesting Ideologies of Family Business: Challenge for Leadership and Professional Services

Abstract

This paper examines how a family business system serves as the ideological arena of three cultural forces—entrepreneurialism, managerialism, and paternalism—that are, to a great extent, contesting ideologies based on different rationalities, or schools of thought. Furthermore, it reinforces the view that a family business system is the combination of three interacting subsystems (management, ownership, and family life)—a form of business that is challenging both for leaders and professional service providers. The approach of the study is conceptual and cultural. It bases its theoretical background on the developments of Johannisson and Huse (2000) and Tagiuri and Davis (1996). A summary of the key results appear in the synthesis of ideological tensions and are further developed in the suggested C³-model, emphasizing the need for balance among creation, caring, and control.

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