Environmental Uncertainty and Strategic Behavior in Belgian Family Firms
By: GILS, Anita Van; VOORDECKERS Win; HEUVEL, HEUVEL, Jeroen Van Den
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ArticlePublisher: Oxford : Elsevier, October 2004European Management Journal 22, 5, p. 588-595Abstract: Despite the prevalence and economic importance of family business both in Europe and the US, relatively little research has been performed on how these types of firms remain competitive in today's dynamic environment. The aim of this research project - conducted among a representative sample of family businesses in Belgium - is to analyze a manager's perception of environmental encertainty and to link it to the family firm's straetgic behavior. Results indicate that family firm's managers do not perceive their environmental as a very hostile one. To attain a competitive advantage, most of them opt for a competitive strategy that combines a cost leardership and differentiation perspective. However, a large group of family firms occupies a 'stuck-in-the-middle-position'. The selection of a strategy is linked to family firm goals and the CEO's uncertainty perception of some specific issues in the family firm's environment
Despite the prevalence and economic importance of family business both in Europe and the US, relatively little research has been performed on how these types of firms remain competitive in today's dynamic environment. The aim of this research project - conducted among a representative sample of family businesses in Belgium - is to analyze a manager's perception of environmental encertainty and to link it to the family firm's straetgic behavior. Results indicate that family firm's managers do not perceive their environmental as a very hostile one. To attain a competitive advantage, most of them opt for a competitive strategy that combines a cost leardership and differentiation perspective. However, a large group of family firms occupies a 'stuck-in-the-middle-position'. The selection of a strategy is linked to family firm goals and the CEO's uncertainty perception of some specific issues in the family firm's environment
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