Family business goal formation: a literature review and discussion of alternative algorithms

Goals represent an organization’s desired outcomes, and family businesses are known to pursue multiple goals, which commonly include both financial and non-financial aspects. While family business goals have garnered much attention among researchers, relatively little is known about the approaches t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inManagement review quarterly Vol. 69; no. 3; pp. 329 - 349
Main Authors Williams, Ralph I., Pieper, Torsten M., Kellermanns, Franz W., Astrachan, Joseph H.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cham Springer International Publishing 01.09.2019
Springer Nature B.V
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Summary:Goals represent an organization’s desired outcomes, and family businesses are known to pursue multiple goals, which commonly include both financial and non-financial aspects. While family business goals have garnered much attention among researchers, relatively little is known about the approaches that family businesses use to shape their idiosyncratic goal sets. The purpose of this article is twofold. First, we review the family business literature and synthesize the current knowledge regarding goal formation. Second, we incorporate insights from extant organizational goal literature and discuss various approaches (algorithms)—specifically, maximizing, satisficing, and optimizing—that family businesses may employ to select goals. These insights form the foundation for our discussion and recommendations for future research aimed at furthering the understanding of family business goal formation.
ISSN:2198-1620
2198-1639
DOI:10.1007/s11301-019-00155-8