Family business and business family questions in the 21st century: Who develops SEW, how do family members create value, and who belongs to the family?

Abstract

Family firm research has made substantial progress in recent years, contributing, for instance, to knowledge on family firm succession, innovation, and performance. In this essay, it is proposed that some important – ‘grand’ – questions become increasingly salient and need to be answered by family business scholars. These include the following: How exclusive is socioemotional wealth (SEW) to family owners, and which elements (if any) could be transferred to other settings? What are the different ways that family members can create value for their family businesses in the 21st century? What is the 21st century ‘version’ of a family, and what roles do other individuals, such as close friends, play? Each of these questions is motivated based on practical observations and examples from prior studies and some initial thoughts and insights are provided, with the hope of encouraging fellow researchers to find answers to the questions.