Causes of Crises, Reorganization Measures, and Outcome of Crises in Family Firms: State of the Art and Empirical Findings from Business Practice
Sprache des Vortragstitels:
Englisch
Original Tagungtitel:
IFERA 2021, International Family Enterprise Research Academy
Sprache des Tagungstitel:
Englisch
Original Kurzfassung:
Due to their specific characteristics, family firms (FFs) are considered to be especially vulnerable to crises and are associated with particularities in dealing with crises. However, a crisis situation does not necessarily lead to business failure, but often also serves as an opportunity for new growth after a successful reorganization. Nonetheless, as our literature review shows, a comprehensive and processual consideration of crises in FFs remains lacking. Thus, we follow systems theory in conducting a qualitative-empirical study on causes of crises, reorganization measures, and the outcome of crises in FFs. Drawing on a multiple case study of 14 Austrian FFs, our findings indicate distinctive characteristics in dealing with crises. The family as well as the owners have a decisive influence on the course of the crisis, which can have both positive and negative implications. In conclusion, we derive occasion-related recommendations for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.