Goal Setting in Family Firms: Goal Diversity, Social Interactions, and Collective Commitment to Family–Centered Goals
Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: Goal setting in family firms is very complex due to the interplay between family and business systems. However, this topic is largely overlooked in family business research. In this qualitative study of goals and goal formulation processes among 76 organizational members across 19 family firms, we identify goal diversity as a direct consequence of the overlap between the family, ownership, and business systems. We found that goal diversity is expressed more strongly in the proximity of generational transitions, triggering social interaction processes through which organizational members contrast their goals. Our findings suggest that different types of social interactions lead to different behaviors, with familial social interactions being more effective than professional social interactions in managing goal diversity toward the formation of collective commitment to family–centered goals.
DOI: 10.1111/etap.12065
Authors: Josip Kotlar, Alfredo De Massis
Institutions: University of Bergamo, Lancaster University
Language: English
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2050960189