Causes of Crises, Reorganization Measures, and Outcome of Crises in Family Firms: State of the Art and Empirical Findings from Business Practice

Description

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.

Period	22 Jun 2021
Event title	IFERA 2021, International Family Enterprise Research Academy
Event type	Conference
Location	AustriaShow on map