Sibling Team Research Articles

Relational Embeddedness and Firm Growth: Comparing Spousal and Sibling Entrepreneurs

Integrating relational embeddedness arguments with Penrosean growth theory, we compare the growth of firms run by spousal entrepreneurs with firms run by sibling entrepreneurs. We theorize that trust, identification, and mutual obligations—the three facets of relational embeddedness—are more pronounced in spousal teams than in sibling teams, which provides spousal teams with advantages over sibling teams in generating firm growth. Probing a sample of all private firms in Sweden over a three-year period, we find support for this conjecture. Exploring boundary conditions to this baseline relationship, we also find that firm age weakens the growth advantages of spousal teams over sibling teams and that industry experience heterogeneity within the entrepreneurial team reinforces these growth advantages. These results provide important contributions for research on firm growth, the social embeddedness of firms, entrepreneurship, and family business.

The Role of Advisors and The Sequence of Their Actions in Sibling Team Succession

Succession is one of the most-studied topics in family firm research. However, research into succession to more than one child remains scarce despite the practice being common. Based on six case studies of successions in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) showing strong growth, our exploratory research identifies the advisors involved in sibling team successions; it then investigates the impact of family and non-family advisors on succession to siblings. Our findings show that the advisors work at three levels: business, family and individual. We propose a new categorization of advisors and pinpoint the timing of their actions. Our results bring to light the importance of the hidden advisors who are, for the most part, the most trusted.

The Role of Selected Team Design Elements in Successful Sibling Teams

For any team to function effectively, several basic elements need to be present. The extent to which these elements are present increases the chances of a successful team outcome. Since a family business can be viewed as a type of team, the literature on how to design effective teams is also relevant to business families. The primary objectives of this study are to identify the team design elements commonly referred to in the family business literature and to empirically test their influence on the effectiveness of South African sibling teams in family businesses. The empirical findings of this preliminary study show that physical resources, skills diversity, and strategic leadership are important determinants of sibling team success whereas role clarity and competence are not.

The impact of intra-group processes on family business success

Interpersonal ties and intra-group processes influence the ability of people to work together effectively as teams. In the context of the family business team, intra-group processes describe the interaction that takes place between the family members and the resultant psychological climate that exists in the family business. Given the increasing number of sibling teams among family businesses, as well as the challenges they face as team members, this study focuses on sibling teams in family businesses and the intra-group processes that influence their success. Consequently, the primary objective of this study is to identify and empirically test the intra-group processes influencing the effectiveness of sibling partnerships. A structured questionnaire was distributed to 1323 sibling partner respondents. The respondents were identified by means of a convenience snowball sampling technique, and the data were collected from 371 usable questionnaires. The empirical findings of this study show that the sibling relationship and fairness are important determinants of sibling team effectiveness.

The influence of family and non-family stakeholders on Family Business success

<p>The greatest threats to the growth, success and survival of a family business are primarily issues related to family relationships. The involvement of non-family members has also shown to present many threats as well as opportunities for the family business. Because of the increasing number of sibling teams among family businesses this article focuses on the impact of family and non-family members’ involvement on the success of sibling-owned family businesses. Key stakeholders identified as influencing a Sibling Partnership are parents, non-active sibling shareholders, spouses, and non-family members. The primary objectives of this article are thus to evaluate the impact of the stakeholders identified on the success of a Sibling Partnership, by subjecting these relationships to empirical testing, and making recommendations to successfully manage relationships in family businesses. A structured questionnaire was made available to 1 323 sibling partner respondents. The respondents were identified by means of a convenience snowball sampling technique, and the data collected from 371 usable questionnaires was subjected to various statistical analyses. The empirical findings of this study show that both past and present Parental involvement, as well as the involvement of other family members and Non-family employees in the sibling-owned family businesses, significantly impact on its success.</p><p><strong>Keywords and phrases:</strong> Family business, Sibling Partnership, family team, family relationships, spouses, non-active shareholders, stakeholders</p>