
Contents
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9.1 Introduction 9.1 Introduction
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9.2 The Definition of the Family Firm and Problems of the Generic Family Firm 9.2 The Definition of the Family Firm and Problems of the Generic Family Firm
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9.3 Family Business as a Cultural Artifact 9.3 Family Business as a Cultural Artifact
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9.4 Family Business as a Stage in the Rise of Modern Business 9.4 Family Business as a Stage in the Rise of Modern Business
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9.5 The Rise of the Managerial Corporation 9.5 The Rise of the Managerial Corporation
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9.6 Alternative Visions 9.6 Alternative Visions
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9.7 The Family Firm in Modern Economies 9.7 The Family Firm in Modern Economies
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9.8 Synthesis 9.8 Synthesis
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9.9 The Family Firm as an Institution 9.9 The Family Firm as an Institution
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9.10 Culture and the Informal “Rules of the Game” 9.10 Culture and the Informal “Rules of the Game”
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9.11 Industrial Districts, Networks, and Family Firms 9.11 Industrial Districts, Networks, and Family Firms
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9.12 Strength and Weaknesses of the Family Firm in Historical Perspective 9.12 Strength and Weaknesses of the Family Firm in Historical Perspective
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9.13 Conclusions 9.13 Conclusions
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References References
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9 Family Business
Get accessAndrea Colli is Associate Professor in Economic History at Bocconi University, Italy, where he is the Director of the undergraduate studies program in International Markets and New Technologies and Deputy Director of EntER, a research center on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs. He has a Ph.D. in Economic and Social History from the same university. His research interests range from family firms to the history of multinationals. He has published several books and articles on the history of the Italian industrial enterprise, the history of family capitalism, and the dynamics of small and medium‐sized enterprises. He is currently a member of the Board of the European Business History Association.
Mary Rose is Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (IEED) in the Management School at Lancaster University, and Research Director of the IEED. She specializes in business history, especially international perspectives on family business and also the history of textiles. She has published widely on the evolution of business values, networking, family firms and the problem of leadership succession, authoring three books and editing another nine. She is Director of the Pasold Research Fund, a charitable trust which provides grants for all aspects of textile history, and General Editor of the Pasold Studies in Textile History published by Oxford University Press.
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Published:02 September 2009
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Abstract
Business history is naturally multidisciplinary and this article tracks the relationships between history, organizational and network theory, entrepreneurship, and family dynamics that underpin current research on family business. It surveys and assesses the existing historiography and analyses the way understanding of family firms has developed since the 1960s. By surveying the business-history literature alongside management and sociological approaches to family firms, the article highlights the shifting nature of family capitalism and the changes in the economic contribution and management of family firms through time and space. It shows that business historians have a proud tradition of recognizing that families and firms are inseparable. Yet this analysis can be taken further by combining historical and postmodern social-science methodologies to explore the pivotal and changing role of women in different firms, sectors, and societies.
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