The anatomy of family business conflict

Abstract

Understanding conflict in family businesses is a complex but essential study area for practitioners and academics. To enhance theoretical precision and provide practical insights, this article presents a comprehensive framework of family business conflict that integrates perspectives from the family business, organizational, management, psychology, and political science literature, as well as practitioner expertise. Highlighting important and often overlooked aspects of family business conflict, this study examines the circumstances of conflict (the who, what, where, why, when, and how) and provides a robust conceptualization of conflict dynamics in the unique family business setting. Through three illustrative examples of prominent family firms that have experienced conflict, the study demonstrates the value of the framework as a tool for understanding, theorizing, and effectively managing conflict. • A family business conflict framework to advance theory and align with practice. • The circumstances (who, what, where, why, when, how) of family business conflict. • Three family business examples illustrating the application of the framework. • Framework to guide research on conflict circumstances and evolution in family firms.

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