Purpose:

The board of directors is a crucial aspect of corporate governance, especially in the case of family-owned firms with diverse dynamics. This article investigates the relationship between board characteristics and performance in family businesses, analysing how family involvement shapes governance structures and their impact on achieving business objectives.

Design/Methodology/Approach:

A bibliometric research design is used to review the existing body of literature in the context of the identified research problem. A total of 554 documents relevant to the study were identified from the Scopus database and analysed using the Biblioshiny software.

Findings:

The 554 relevant articles ranged between 1996 and 2024. The research trend showcased a steady increase in the output in this domain over the recent decade. Thematic analysis revealed motor themes such as corporate governance and corporate strategy and basic themes such as board size, composition and independence. The study further shed light on five thematic clusters and built a conceptual framework pertaining to board–performance relationship, which can be empirically tested by future studies.

Originality:

Several features of the board such as board size, diversity and independence have garnered the interest of researchers since many years, and there are several bibliometric studies in the area of family business management in general. However, there is an absence of a consolidated study which reflects the existing body of literature and shows the way forward for future research in the domain of impact of board characteristics on the performance of family businesses.

Implications:

Based on the analysis, future research directions in terms of under-explored independent and dependent variables are provided. The study provides theoretical implications in terms of proposing a conceptual framework, which explains the influence of board attributes on firm performance. Several managerial and policy implications are also laid out.