Business, Enterprise & Management
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Item The role of vision in determining family, small business and minority ethnic business research(Edward Elgar, 2020-09-04) Seaman, Claire; Bent, Richard; Calabro, AndreaFamily business and migration pre-date written history and yet are relatively young fields of research, which has to some extent evolved in parallel with the fields of small business research and minority ethnic entrepreneurship. In practice, however, the strands often overlap and contain common issues and challenges, this overlap provides a hinterland currently not fully explored and contextualized within research. Drawing together current research from the three fields, this chapter will highlight and conceptualize the overlaps as a working model for future analysis and highlight a number of key areas for future research. This sometime artificial distinction is especially important where research is developed into practice. The development of appropriate support systems through formal and informal networks is a key priority for communities, economies and the success of the family themselves.Item Extending cross-gender succession theories: Mother–son succession in family business(Emerald, 2018-12-10) Seaman, Claire; Ross, Susanne; Bent, Richard; Higgins, David; Jones, Paul; McGowan, PauricThe importance of succession in family business is well documented and there is general agreement that successful succession represents a key factor in the success or otherwise of individual businesses owned and run by families. The importance of gender in family business succession is a much more recent topic, where initial work has focussed very much on the increasing tendency for women to take on the family business as a successor. Far less research, however, considers the scenario where a female leader passes on the business, whether that takes the form of family succession, a new leader from out with the family or indeed business sale. This dearth of research is not entirely surprising: whilst female leaders in a family business context are not new, their numbers have been relatively small and often mediated through the lens of co-preneurship with a male partner. As women increasingly succeed to and found family businesses however, the gender dimension within family business succession develops and the research response forms the basis for this chapter.Item Business internet use in small, family owned and managed hotels in Scotland(Inderscience, 2020-02-05) Fyfe, Jo; Seaman, Claire; Bent, RichardTourism and thus hospitality is a key strategic priority for the Scottish Government which in many communities is still highly dependent on small, family owned and managed hotels. This exploratory study is designed to initiate dialogue and to explore the complexity of the operating environment and perceived business support needs in the ever-more complex and dynamic e-environment. The development of the internet has altered the manner in which the hospitality industry operates; offering global marketing opportunities, open-source review sites and perhaps crucially the opportunity to interact with and sell directly to the consumer. Results indicate that the positive aspects of the internet were perceived to outweigh the disadvantages; however, the learning challenges identified were primarily around the effective management of on-line resources and global reputation. The vital role of small family owned and managed hotels in the development of a coherent tourism offering for Scotland is acknowledged here and can be additionally allied to geography. There are areas in Scotland, and indeed much of the world, that draw tourists yet are not sufficiently populous to host hotel chains or even specialist boutique hotels. In part, the reason tourists are drawn to those areas is precisely their relatively undeveloped nature, yet this creates a challenge for business learning within small independent hotels.Item Family Values: Influencers in the Development of Financial and Non-financial Dynamics in Family Firms(Palgrave Macmillan, 2018-09-06) Seaman, Claire; Silva, Mauricio; Bent, Richard; Dibrell, Clay; Memili, EsraThe role of family values is considered here as one potential contributor to heterogeneity. The pursuit of profit as an end goal may be key for many family businesses, but there are well-documented cases of businesses where corporate citizenship and philanthropy are integral to the business model. Earlier work has highlighted that where one family has a predominant level of control in a business, their family values may assume greater importance and thereby be more likely to influence strategy. Within this chapter, we propose that the concentration of family values that occurs when one family has a predominant level of control within the business may be a key contributor to the development of financial and non-financial dynamics, representing one way in which strategy is developed and implemented.Item Innovation and Knowledge Transfer in Rural Entrepreneurship and Regional Development(2008-05) Seaman, Claire; Graham, Stuart; Bent, RichardFamily businesses provide a critical structure for economic activity and wealth-creation worldwide, existing and flourishing across geo-political frontiers, markets, areas and legal forms of business [Poutzioris et al, 2004]. Worldwide, family businesses are the most common type of business and despite much academic debate about the precise definition of a family business, estimates of the proportion of family businesses within the economies of developed countries remain remarkably constant at around two thirds of business operations [Poutzioris et al, 2004] and around half of GDP economic activity and private employment [Shanker and Astrachan, 2006]. One constant theme throughout the literature is the relatively private nature of family businesses, which in turn tends to mean that accurate information about them is not readily available [Astrachan and Shanker, 2006]. A second constant theme is the importance of the contribution that family businesses make to economic, social, cultural and community development, whether the be in the UK [Reid and Harris, 2004], the USA [Astrachan and Shanker 2006], in the Chinese economy [Chung and Yuen, 2003; Poutzioris et al, 2004] or amongst distinct and relatively discrete minority communities [Dhaliwal and Kangis, 2008]. The combination of a sector of clear and, to some extent, measurable, importance where robust data are nonetheless difficult to establish, illustrates both the dilemma of family business research and its importance Working with the Scottish Family Business Association and the Economic Development Unit at East Lothian Council, Queen Margaret University are currently researching the impact of family business in East Lothian on local communities, businesses and regional development. Family businesses frequently play a key role in Regional Economic Development, as they tend to be based within a community and prove relatively resistant to major geographic re-location. The methodology is currently being piloted, therefore, which is based around the use of semi-structured interviews with one or more members of a family business. The impact of family business culture on knowledge transfer and the implications of the relatively informal working practices often identified within family-based SMEs will be considered, alongside effective strategies for engagement and examples from current projects. Links between current KT policy and the specific needs of family businesses will be explored as part of both local and National strategies for engagement.