Issues relating to private family firm diversity and development are discussed with reference to established and emerging debates. Family firm assets and liabilities are highlighted. Key issues for family firms research and practice relating to family firm definition and family firm diversity are raised. Issues relating to context, culture and time are also discussed. Conceptual and empirical ‘types’ of family firms are illustrated. The contributions of ‘invisible’ members, women and couples in family firms are discussed. Various ownership forms relating to the perpetuation of family firms and business ownership transfer issues are highlighted. Articles in this special issue are then briefly summarized.
Aldrich HE and Cliff JE ( 2003) The pervasive effects of family on entrepreneurship: Toward a family embeddedness perspective. Journal of Business Venturing18(5): 573-578.
2.
Arthurs JD and Busenitz LW ( 2003) The boundaries and limitations of agency theory and stewardship theory in the venture capitalist/entrepreneur relationship . Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice28(2): 145-162.
3.
Astrachan JH, Klein SB and Smyrnios KX ( 2002) The F-PEC scale of family influence: A proposal for solving the family business definition problem. Family Business Review15: 45-58.
4.
Astrachan JH and Shanker MC ( 2003) Family businesses’ contribution to the US economy: A closer look. Family Business Review16(3): 211-219.
5.
Baines S. and Wheelock J. ( 1997) A Business in the Family: An Investigation of the Contribution of Family to Small Business Survival, Maintenance and Growth . London: Institute for Small Business Affairs, Research Series, Monograph No. 3.
6.
Binder Hamlyn ( 1994) The Quest for Growth: A Survey of UK Private Companies . London: Binder Hamlyn.
7.
Birley S., Ng D. and Godfrey A. ( 1999) The family and the business. Long Range Planning32(6): 598-608.
8.
Chrisman JJ, Chua JH and Kellermanns F.(2009) Priorities, resource stocks, and performance in family and nonfamily firms. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice33(3): 739-760.
9.
Chrisman JJ, Chua JH and Kellermanns F. ( 2005) Trends and directions in the development of a strategic management theory of the family firm. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice29(5): 555-575.
10.
Chrisman JJ, Chua JH and Steier LP ( 2003a) An introduction to the theories of family business . Journal of Business Venturing18(4): 441-448
11.
Chrisman JJ, Chua JH and Steier LP ( 2003b) Creating wealth in family firms through managing resources: Comments and extensions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice27(4): 359-366.
12.
Chua JH, Chrisman JJ and Bergiel EB (2009) An agency theoretic analysis of the professionalized family firm. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice33(2): 355-372.
13.
Chua JH, Chrisman JJ and Sharma P. ( 1999) Defining the family business by behavior. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice23(4): 19-39.
14.
Chua JH, Chrisman JJ and Steier LP ( 2003) Extending the theoretical horizons of family business research. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice27(4): 331-338.
15.
Churchill NC and Hatten KJ ( 1987) Non-market-based transfers of wealth and power: A research framework for small businessesAmerican Journal of Small Business11: 51-64.
16.
Colli A., Fernadez Perez P. and Rose MB ( 2003) National determinants of family firm development? Family firms in Britain, Spain and Italy in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries . Enterprise and Society4(1): 28-64.
17.
Colli A. and Rose MB ( 1999) Families and firms: The culture and evolution of family firms in Britain and Italy in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries . Scandinavian Economic History Review47: 24-47.
18.
Craig J., Moores K., Howorth C and Poutziouris P (2009) Family business research at a tipping point threshold. Journal of Management and Organization15(3): 282-293.
19.
Cromie S., Stephenson B. and Montieth D. ( 1995) The management of family firms: An empirical investigation . International Small Business Journal13(4): 11-34.
20.
Davis J., Schoorman FD and Donaldson L. ( 1997) Toward a stewardship theory of management. Academy of Management Review22(1): 20-47.
21.
Discua Cruz A., Howorth C. and Hamilton E. ( 2010) Family entrepreneurial teams: A vehicle for portfolio entrepreneurship. Paper presented at Theories of Family Enterprise conference. Edmonton: University of Alberta.
22.
Dyer WG and Handler W. ( 1994) Entrepreneurship and family business: Exploring the connections . Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice19(1): 71-83.
23.
Eddleston KA and Kellermanns FW ( 2007) Destructive and productive family relationships: A stewardship theory perspective. Journal of Business Venturing22(4): 545-565.
24.
Fama E. and Jensen M. ( 1983) Separation of ownership and control. Journal of Law and Economics26: 301-325.
Fox M., Nilakant V. and Hamilton RT ( 1997) Managing succession in family-owned business. International Small Business Journal15(1): 15-25.
27.
Gersick KE, Davis J., Hampton MM and Lansberg I. ( 1997) Generation to Generation: Life Cycles of the Family Business . Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
28.
Habbershon T. and Williams M. ( 1999) A resource-based framework for assessing the strategic advantages of family firms. Family Business Review12: 1-25.
29.
Habbershon T., Williams M. and MacMillan I. ( 2003) A unified systems perspective of family firm performance . Journal of Business Venturing18: 451-465.
30.
Hamilton E. ( 2006) Whose story is it anyway? Narrative accounts of the role of women in founding and establishing family businesses. International Small Business Journal24: 253-271.
31.
Hau M. ( 1995) Traditions comportamentales et capitalisme dynastique. Le cas des ‘grandes familles’. Enterprises et Histoire9: 43-59.
32.
Howorth C. and Ali Z.A. ( 2001) Family business succession in Portugal. Family Business Review14(3): 231-244.
33.
Howorth C., Westhead P. and Wright M. ( 2004) Buyouts, information asymmetry and the family management dyad. Journal of Business Venturing19(4): 509-534.
34.
Hoy F. and Verser TG ( 1994) Emerging business, emerging field: Entrepreneurship and the family firm. Entrepreneurship, Theory and Practice19(1): 9-23.
35.
Ifera (2003) Family businesses dominate: International family enterprise research academy (IFERA). Family Business Review16(4): 235-240.
36.
Johannisson B. and Huse M. ( 2000) Recruiting outside board members in the small family business: An ideological challenge. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development12(4): 353-378.
37.
Karra N., Tracey P. and Phillips N. ( 2006) Altruism and agency in the family firm: Exploring the role of family, kinship, and ethnicity. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice30(6): 861-877.
38.
Kellermanns FW and Eddleston KA ( 2006) Corporate entrepreneurship in family firms: A family perspective . Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice30(6): 809-830.
39.
Klein SB, Astrachan JH and Smyrnios KX ( 2005) The F-PEC scale of family influence: Construction, validation and further implication for theory. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice29: 321-339.
40.
Lansberg I. ( 1999) Succeeding Generations: Realizing the Dream of Families in Business. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
41.
Lansberg IS, Perrow EL and Rogolsky S. ( 1988) Family business as an emerging field. Family Business Review1: 1-8.
42.
Mandl I. ( 2008) Overview of Family Business Relevant Issues: Contract No. 30-CE-0164021/00-51 Final Report. Vienna: Austrian Institute for SME Research.
43.
Morris MH, Williams RO, Allen JA and Avila RA ( 1997) Correlates of success in family business transitions . Journal of Business Venturing12: 385-401.
44.
Nicholson L. and Anderson AR ( 2005) News and nuances of the entrepreneurial myth and metaphor: Linguistic games in entrepreneurial sense-making and sense-giving. Entrepreneurship , Theory and Practice29(2): 153-172.
45.
Ogbor J.O. ( 2000) Mythicizing and reification in entrepreneurial discourse: Ideology-critique of entrepreneurial studies. Journal of Management Studies37(5): 605-635.
46.
Pearson AW, Carr JC and Shaw JC ( 2008) Toward a theory of familiness: A social capital perspective . Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice32(6): 949-969.
47.
Pollak RA ( 1985) A transaction cost approach to families and households . Journal of Economic Literature23: 581-608.
48.
Poza EJ and Messer T. ( 2001) Spousal leadership and continuity in the family firm. Family Business Review14 (1): 25-36.
49.
Rogoff EG and Heck RKZ ( 2003) Evolving research in entrepreneurship and family business: Recognizing family as the oxygen that feeds the fire of entrepreneurship . Journal of Business Venturing18(5): 559-566.
50.
Rose MB ( 2000) Firms Networks and Business Values: The British and American Cotton Industries since 1750. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
51.
Rosenblatt PC de, Mik L., Anderson RM and Johnson PA ( 1985) The Family in Business: Understanding and Dealing with the Challenges Entrepreneurial Families Face. San Fransisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
52.
Rutherford WW, Kuratko DF and Holt DT ( 2008) Examining the link between ‘familiness’ and performance: Can the F-PEC untangle the family business theory jungle ? Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice32(6): 1089-1109.
53.
Schulze WS, Lubatkin MH and Dino RN ( 2003) Toward a theory of agency and altruism in family firms . Journal of Business Venturing18(4): 473-490.
54.
Shanker MC and Astrachan JH ( 1996) Myths and realities: Family businesses contribution to the US economy - a framework for assessing family business statistics. Family Business Review9(2): 107-124.
55.
Sharma P. ( 2002) Stakeholder mapping technique: Toward the development of a family firm typology. Presented at the Academy of Management MeetingDenver CO USA: Academy of Management.
56.
Sharma P. ( 2004) An overview of the field of family business studies: Current status and directions for the future. Family Business Review17(1): 1-36.
57.
Sharma P., Chua JH and Chrisman JJ ( 2000) Perceptions about the extent of succession planning in Canadian family firms. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences17(3) 233-244.
58.
Sharma P. and Irving P.G. ( 2005) Four bases of family business successor commitment: Antecedents and consequences. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice29(1): 13-33.
59.
Sirmon DG and Hitt MA ( 2003) Managing resources: Linking unique resources management and wealth creation in family firms. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice27(4): 339-358.
60.
Stafford K., Duncan KA, Danes S. and Winter M. ( 1999) A research model of sustainable family business . Family Business Review12(3): 197-208.
61.
Ucbasaran D., Lockett A., Wright M. and Westhead P. ( 2003) Entrepreneurial founder teams: Factors associated with team member entry and exit. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice28(2): 107-127.
62.
Upton N., Teal EJ and Felan JT ( 2001) Strategic and business planning practices of fast growth family firms. Journal of Small Business Management39(1): 60-72.
63.
Ward JL ( 1987) Keeping the Family Business Healthy: How to Plan for Continued Growth Profitability and Family Leadership. San Fransisco : Jossey-Bass Publishers.
64.
Westhead P. ( 1997) Ambitions, ‘external’ environment and strategic factor differences between family and non-family companies. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development9(2): 127-157.
65.
Westhead P. ( 2003) Succession decision-making outcomes reported by unquoted family companies. International Small Business Journal21(4): 369-399.
66.
Westhead P. and Cowling M. ( 1998) Family firm research: The need for a methodological rethink . Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice23(1): 31-56.
67.
Westhead P., Cowling M. and Howorth C. ( 2001) The development of family companies: Management and ownership issues. Family Business Review14(4): 369-385.
68.
Westhead P., Howorth C. and Cowling M. ( 2002) Ownership and management issues in first and multi-generation family firms. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development14(3): 247-269.
69.
Westhead P. and Howorth C. ( 2006a) Identification of different ‘types’ of family firms. In: Poutziouris PZ, Smyrnios KX and Klein SB(eds) Handbook of Research on Family Business. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp.180-195.
70.
Westhead P. and Howorth C. ( 2006b) Ownership and management issues associated with family firm performance and company objectives. Family Business Review19(4): 301-316.
71.
Westhead P. and Howorth C. ( 2007) ‘Types’ of private family firms: An exploratory conceptual and empirical analysis. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development19(5): 405-431.
72.
Winter M., Danes SM, Koh S-K., Fredericks K. and Paul JJ ( 2004) Tracking family businesses and their managers over time: Panel attrition manager departure and business demise. Journal of Business Venturing19(4): 535-559.
73.
Zahra SA ( 2003) International expansion of US manufacturing family businesses: The effect of ownership and involvement. Journal of Business Venturing18(4): 495-512.
74.
Zahra SA, Hayton JC, Neubaum DO, Dibrell C. and Craig J. ( 2008) Culture of family commitment and strategic flexibility: The moderating effect of stewardship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice32(6): 1035-1054.
75.
Zahra SA, Hayton JC and Salvato C. ( 2004) Entrepreneurship in family vs. non-family firms: A resource-based analysis of the effect of organizational culture. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice28(4): 363-381.
