Do Family Business Leaders Really Cooperate with Non-Family Executives - Process Challenges of Professionalization

Posted: 8 Sep 2017

See all articles by K. Ramachandran

K. Ramachandran

Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad

Navneet Bhatnagar

Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad; Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras

Date Written: February 2, 2014

Abstract

Stewart & Hitt (2012) concluded in their literature review that we need more insights into the process of professionalization of family firms. Some pertinent questions not much researched are - what processes do family firms follow to professionalize? why do only some of those approaches work?, and what are these approaches? To find the answers we studied professionalization processes at two Indian family controlled businesses. We found that professionalization process at the top management level entails cooperation and role clarity between family business leader and professional manager. We conclude that there is need to have perfect chemistry and understanding between them to manage the undefined areas of responsibility between them, a zone of managerial ambiguity or “No Man’s Land”. The paper discusses and generates propositions for the processes of professionalization.

Keywords: Professionalization, Transition, Letting-go, Cooperation, Family Business Life Cycle, Leadership

Suggested Citation

Ramachandran, K. and Bhatnagar, Navneet, Do Family Business Leaders Really Cooperate with Non-Family Executives - Process Challenges of Professionalization (February 2, 2014). Indian School of Business WP 3032837, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3032837

K. Ramachandran (Contact Author)

Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad ( email )

Hyderabad, Gachibowli 500 019
India

Navneet Bhatnagar

Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad ( email )

Hyderabad, Gachibowli 500 019
India

Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras ( email )

Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600036
India

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