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Contribution to Book
Skeptical about Family Business: Advancing the Field of Family Business in its Scholarship, Relevance, and Academic Role
Advances in Entrepreneurship, Firm Emergence, and Growth, eds. A. Stewart, G. T. Lumpkin, and J. A. Katz, Vol. 12 (2010)
  • Alex Stewart, Marquette University
Document Type
Article
Language
eng
Format of Original
11 p.
Publication Date
1-1-2010
Publisher
Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.
Disciplines
Abstract

Less polemical authors have published useful overviews of scholarship and institutional development in family business (Chrisman, Kellermanns, Chan, & Liano, 2010; Heck, Hoy, Poutziouris, & Steier, 2008; Schulze & Gedajlovic, 2010; Sharma, 2004). I take this as license for hyperbole. In such a vein, I am skeptical eight times over: that the field can be objective, that it can be defined, that “family business” is the right label, that it will find useful theories, that kinship exists, that if it does exist (all right, I do believe it does) we really observe it in action, that the field can progress without regressing, that it can be relevant, and that it can find its niche in universities. “Skeptical” has a nice ring to it. I confess, though, that my concerns are worries more than a lack of willingness to believe. After all, I hope that the papers in this volume will goad us into avoiding pitfalls as the field develops.

Comments

Accepted version. Advances in Entrepreneurship, Firm Emergence and Growth, Vol. 12 (2010): 231-241. DOI. This article is © Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here. Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Citation Information
Alex Stewart. "Skeptical about Family Business: Advancing the Field of Family Business in its Scholarship, Relevance, and Academic Role" Advances in Entrepreneurship, Firm Emergence, and Growth, eds. A. Stewart, G. T. Lumpkin, and J. A. Katz, Vol. 12 (2010) (2010) ISSN: 1074-7540
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/alex_stewart/3/