Study on business and skill transfer in skill-based long-established family companies

Abstract

Economists and sociologist have an interest in understanding what enables companies to survive for hundreds of years. Most of the research in this area has focused on large, multinational corporations, with economists claiming it depends on efficient production management and organisational design and sociologists argue that it is institutional, cognitive and socio-political legitimacy that are most important. Research is now turning to smaller and medium size businesses to help the future sustainability of these companies. Associate Professor Hidekazu Sone is based at the Shizuoka University of Art and Culture in Japan, and is investigating the business and skill transfer in skill-based family companies that have been established for a long time. Sone hopes to determine the precise mechanisms behind how long-standing firms have been able to survive in response to changes over the years at the same time as inheriting traditions.