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PROPRIETORIAL CONTROL IN FAMILY FIRMS: SOME FUNCTIONS OF ‘QUASI‐ORGANIC’ MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Author(s) -
Goffee Robert,
Scase Richard
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
journal of management studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.398
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1467-6486
pISSN - 0022-2380
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6486.1985.tb00242.x
Subject(s) - scope (computer science) , autonomy , business , control (management) , family business , management control system , senior management , marketing , industrial organization , process management , knowledge management , management , economics , computer science , law , programming language , political science
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the strategies of managerial control which are used by the proprietors of family‐owned business enterprises. Interviews with the proprietors and senior managers of businesses in the building industry illustrate the ‘quasi‐organic’ nature of management structures. These grant some autonomy to senior managers without threatening proprietorial decision‐making prerogatives. Although the family firm has certain distinctive features, similar control strategies designed to ensure that delegated decisions are ‘reliable’ and ‘responsible’ are evident in various types of business enterprise. There is, then, scope for further comparative research within a conceptual framework which does not entirely divorce the family firm from other business organizations.