Family business and entrepreneurship have until recently been studied separately. Rogoff and Heck (2003) initially proposed the recognition of “family as the oxygen that feeds the fire of entrepreneurship”; however, the effect of family in the entrepreneurial landscape is still under researched. To this end, Family Entrepreneurship: Rethinking the Research Agenda offers an in-depth examination on the impact of family behind the processes of entrepreneurship in diverse contexts. It reflects the work of leading international academics putting forward the development of the field of family entrepreneurship. This book edited by Kathleen Randerson, Cristina Bettinelli, Giovanna Dossena and Alain Foyelle takes a key step toward connecting the intersections between family, family business and entrepreneurship research.
At the outset, Randerson and Bettinelli highlight current knowledge of family entrepreneurship laying the foundation for the main parts of the book. A conceptual framework is presented to provide a systematic approach in understanding the dynamic nature of the field (Bettinelli et al., 2014). This is crucial to the overall structure of the chapters which is guided by the framework and allows the reader to understand the entrepreneurial behaviors of family, family members and family businesses. Following a stimulating foreword by Pramodita Sharma which emphasizes the contribution of this thought-provoking book as the inspiration for further multi-disciplinary and multi-level research, the book is structured in three parts.
The first part considers the intersection of family business and entrepreneurship. The chapters in this section while touching on diverse angles such as effectuation, social and corporate entrepreneurship, and corporate venturing together they provide a connection to identify patterns of research at the juncture of entrepreneurship and family business. The second part focusses on the intersection of family and family business. A strong argument in this section is the emphasis of the mutual effect family issues and family business matters have over each other, instead on focussing only on the unidirectional effects of family in business, as normally depicted. The chapters in this section provide depth by focussing on identity construction in family businesses, allocation of financial rewards in family firms and socioemotional wealth in the family. The third and last part depicts the intersection of family and entrepreneurship, the corresponding effects between family dynamics and entrepreneurial behaviors. The final chapters that integrate this section include entrepreneurial couples, impact of family network, habitual entrepreneurship in dynastic families and diverse types of interactions in family firms. Overall, the sections provide relevant findings by focussing on the connections of entrepreneurial behavior and the three loci (i.e. the individual, the family and family business) allowing the unraveling of its complexity.
The chapters in the book besides offering interesting questions, are also very well connected and collectively contribute to the academic debate revolving around key constructs in the field. Conclusions by Dossena in each of the three parts provide readers with a useful synthesis of the contributions along with suggestions for forthcoming research. The final conclusion integrates the sections making it easier to link research to the proposed framework, and presents bold questions stimulating discussion for future research agenda as the title anticipates. This book offers a fresh perspective to further advance existing knowledge in the topic. It invites readers to avoid fragmented approaches; instead its significant contribution is the lens through which family entrepreneurship is studied as a holistic phenomenon which dimensions not only overlap but are intrinsically interwoven in a cohesive framework.
Overall this insightful edited collection invites readers to take a multidisciplinary view at family entrepreneurship by presenting relevant issues from a theoretical and a practical point of view, benefiting scholars and practitioners alike.
