Family Business and Competitive Strategy Research

The purpose of this chapter is to understand the contribution of family business research to competitive strategy. Family firms are those firms whose policy and direction are subject to significant influence by one or more family units; this influence is exerted through ownership and through the involvement of family members in management (Davis, 1983). To describe the advantages that firms take from their controlling families in terms of unique or distinctive resources and capabilities leading the firm itself to capture advantage-based rents, we follow the predictions related to the concept of ‘familiness’ (Habbershon, Williams and MacMillan, 2003). In this perspective, the unique bundle of resources family firms own implies the potential to provide an advantage over non family firms. Drawing on past literature, our deductive findings suggest three key characteristics of the family unit as potential predictors of firm’s competitive strategies: (a) the level of commitment, (b) the need of distinctiveness and (c) the long term vision. Anecdotal case studies support our arguments.