Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2013-9
How Does Knowledge Sharing Among Advisors From Different Disciplines Affect the Quality of the Services Provided to the Family Business Client? An Investigation From the Family Business Advisor’s Perspective
This study examined how, from the family business advisor’s perspective, knowledge sharing among external individual advisors can affect the quality of services provided to the family business client. Using qualitative research methods, we found that knowledge sharing improved the quality of advising services through four mechanisms: (a) by improving the accuracy of issue identification, (b) by achieving a systematic analysis of the issue, (c) by arriving at an integrated total solution, and (d) by increasing the credibility of the provided solution. This study has important implications for literature in the field of family business advising, as it explains the underlying mechanisms through which knowledge sharing among individual external advisors enhances the quality of advising services.
AdendorffC.BoshoffC.CourtP.RadloffS. (2005). The impact of planning on good governance practices in South African Greek family businesses. Management Dynamics, 14(4), 34-46.
2.
AmasonA. C. (1996). Distinguishing the effects of functional and dysfunctional conflict on strategic decision making: Resolving a paradox for top management teams. Academy of Management Journal, 39, 123-148.
3.
AstrachanJ. H.AstrachanB. M. (1996). Family business: The challenges and opportunities of interprofessional collaboration. In AronoffC. E.AstrachanJ. H.WardJ. L. (Ed.), Family business sourcebook II (pp. 535-546). Marietta, GA: Business Owner Resources.
4.
AstrachanJ. H.McMillanK. S. (2006). United States. InKaslowF. W. (Ed.), Handbook of family business and family business consultation: A global perspective (pp. 347-363).Binghamton, NY: International Business Press.
5.
AustinJ. R. (2003). Transactive memory in organizational groups: The effects of content, consensus, specialization, and accuracy on group performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 866-878.
6.
BabickyJ. (1987). Consulting to the family business. Journal of Management Consulting, 3(4), 25-32.
7.
BlankS. J. (1987). Leon Danco: Family business “shrink.”Management Review, 76(7), 16-19.
8.
BlockP. H. (1999). Flawless consulting: A guide to getting your expertise used (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.
9.
BorkD.JaffeD.LaneS.DashewL.HeislerQ. (1996). Working with family businesses: A guide for professionals. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
10.
BrownF. H. (1998). The “softer side” of consulting to business owning families: Understanding our clients and ourselves. Family Business Review, 11, 193-205.
11.
BrownJ. S.DuguidP. (1991). Organizational learning and communities-of-practice: Toward a unified view of working, learning and innovation. Organization Science, 2, 40-57.
12.
Cannon-BowersJ. A.SalasE.ConverseS. A. (1990). Cognitive psychology and team training: Shared mental models in complex systems. Human Factors Bulletin, 33, 1-4.
13.
Cannon-BowersJ. A.SalasE.ConverseS. A. (1993). Shared mental models in expert team decision making. In CastellanN. J. (Ed.), Individual and group decision making: Current issues (pp. 221-246). Hillsdale, NJ, England: Lawrence Erlbaum.
14.
ChuaJ. H.ChrismanJ. J.SharmaP. (2003). Succession and nonsuccession concerns of family firms and agency relationship with nonfamily managers. Family Business Review, 16, 89-107.
15.
CorbettaG.SalvatoC. A. (2004). The board of directors in family firms: One size fits all?Family Business Review, 17, 119-134.
16.
CrossK. A.SprenkleH. D. (2006). Characteristics of effective family business advisors. FFI Practitioner, 2.
17.
DoughertyD. (1992). A practice-centered model of organizational renewal through product innovation. Strategic Management Journal, 13, 77-92.
18.
DyerW. G.Jr(1994). Potential contributions of organizational behavior to the study of family-owned businesses. Family Business Review, 7, 109-131.
19.
EddyP. (1996). Lessons, legends and legacies: Serving the family business. Journal of Financial Planning, 9(6), 76-79.
20.
EdmondsonA. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44, 350-383.
21.
EdmondsonA. C.McManusS. E. (2007). Methodological fit in management filed research. Academy of Management Review, 32, 1155-1179.
22.
EisenhardtK. M. (1989). Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review, 14, 532-550.
23.
GersickK. E.DavisJ.HamptonM.LansbergI. (1997). Generation to generation: Life cycles of the family business. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
24.
Gomez-MejiaL. R.HaynesK. T.Nunez-NickelM.JacobsonK. J. L.Moyano-FuentesJ. (2007). Socio emotional wealth and business risks in family controlled-firms: Evidence from Spanish olive oil mills. Administrative Science Quarterly, 52, 106-137.
25.
GoodmanJ. M. (1998). Defining the new professional: The family business counselor. Family Business Review, 11, 349-354.
26.
GraebnerM. E. (2004). Momentum and serendipity: How acquired leaders create value in the integration of technology firms. Strategic Management Journal, 25, 751-777.
27.
GraebnerM. E.EisenhardtK. M. (2004). The seller’s side of the story: Acquisition as courtship and governance as syndicate in entrepreneurial firms. Administrative Science Quarterly, 49, 366-403.
28.
GrantR. M. (1996). Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17, 109-122.
29.
HandlerW. C. (1990). Succession in family firms: A mutual role adjustment between entrepreneur and next generation family members. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 15, 37-51.
30.
Hilburt-DavisJ.DyerW. G. (2003). Consulting to family businesses: A practical guide to contracting, assessment, and implementation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.
31.
JaffeD. T.LaneS. H. (2004). Sustaining a family dynasty: Key issues facing complex multigenerational business and investment-owning families. Family Business Review, 17, 81-98.
32.
JensenM. C.MecklingW. H. (1995). Specific and general knowledge, and organizational structure. Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, 8(2), 4-18.
33.
KaslowF. W. (2006). Brief history of the Family Firm Institute. In KaslowF. W. (Ed.), Handbook of family business & family business consultation: A global perspective (pp. 3-24). Binghamton, NY: International Business Press.
34.
KayeK.HamiltonS. (2004). Roles of trust in consulting to financial families. Family Business Review, 17, 151-163.
35.
LambrechtJ.LievensJ. (2008). Pruning the family tree: An unexplored path to family business continuity and family harmony. Family Business Review, 21, 295-313.
LeeD. S.LimG. H.LimW. S. (2003). Family business succession: Appropriation risk and choice of successor. Academy of Management Review, 28, 657-666.
39.
LeeJ. H.DanesS. M. (2012). Uniqueness of family therapists as family business systems consultants: A cross-disciplinary investigation. Journal of Marital & Family Therapy, 38(Suppl. 1), 92-104.
40.
LeeS. H.PhanP.YoshikawaT. (2008). The role of the board and its interaction with the successor’s human capital in the Asian family enterprise. Multinational Business Review, 16(2), 65-88.
41.
LesterR. H.CannellaA. A. (2006). Interorganizational familiness: How family firms use interlocking directorates to build community-level social capital. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 30, 755-776.
42.
LevinsonH. (1983). Consulting with family businesses: What to look for, what to look out for. Organizational Dynamics, 12, 71-80.
43.
LewisK. (2003). Measuring transactive memory systems in the field: Scale development and validation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 587-604.
44.
LimB. C.KleinK. J. (2006). Team mental models and team performance: A field study of the effects of team mental model similarity and accuracy. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27, 403-418.
45.
MarchJ.SimonH. (1958). Organizations. New York, NY: John Wiley.
46.
MathieuE.StrasslerP.PearlN. (2010). Finding and retaining the right advisor for a family and its family office. Journal of Wealth Management, 13(3), 15-18.
47.
MaurerI.EbersM. (2006). Dynamics of social capital and their performance implications: Lessons from biotechnology start-ups. Administrative Science Quarterly, 51, 262-292.
OlsonP. D.ZuikerV. S.DanesS. M.StaffordK.HeckR. K. Z.DuncanK. A. (2003). Impact of family and business on family business sustainability. Journal of Business Venturing, 18, 639-666.
52.
PerrowC. (1967). A framework for the comparative analysis of organizations. American Sociological Review, 32, 194-208.
53.
PozaE. J.HanlonS.KishidaR. (2004). Does the family business interaction factor represent a resource or a cost?Family Business Review, 17, 99-118.
54.
PrinceR. A. (1990). Family business mediation: A conflict resolution model. Family Business Review, 3, 209-223.
55.
ReayT.WhettenD. A. (2011). What constitutes a theoretical contribution in family business?Family Business Review, 24, 105-110.
56.
SidwellP. (1989). An interview with Leon Danco. Family Business Review, 2, 381-400.
57.
StrikeV. (2012). Advising the family firm: Reviewing the past to build the future. Family Business Review, 25, 156-177.
58.
SwartzS. (1989). The challenges of multidisciplinary consulting to family-owned businesses. Family Business Review, 2, 329-339.
59.
TagiuriR.DavisJ. A. (1996). Bivalent attributes of the family firm. Family Business Review, 9, 199-208.
60.
ThompsonJ. D. (1967). Organizations in action. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
61.
UptonN.VintonK.SeamanS.MooreC. (1993). Research note: Family business consultants—who we are, what we do, and how we do it. Family Business Review, 6, 301-311.
62.
VagoM. (2004). Integrating change management: Challenges for family business clients and consultants. Family Business Review, 17, 71-80.
63.
WardJ. L.HandyJ. L. (1988). A survey of board practices. Family Business Review, 1, 298-308.
64.
WeberR. P. (1990). Basic content analysis (2nd ed.). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
65.
WegnerD. M. (1987). Transactive memory: A contemporary analysis of the group mind. In MullenB.GoethalsG. R. (Eds.), Theories of group behavior (pp. 185-208).New York, NY: Springer-Verlag.
WhettenD. A. (1989). What constitutes a theoretical contribution?Academy of Management Review, 14, 490-495.
68.
YinR. (1984). Case study research: Design and methods. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
69.
ZhangZ. X.HempelP. S.HamY. L.TjosvoldD. (2007). Transactive memory system links work team characteristics and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 1722-1730.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
