It's a Family Affair: The Impact of Family Systems on the Success or Failure of African American Family Businesses.

摘要

Family owned businesses have existed since the beginning of time. African American family- owned businesses, specifically, tend to struggle with sustainability in comparison with other ethnic groups. Moreover, it has been discovered that family dynamics may play a role in the success of African American family owned businesses. This study takes a look at the constructs from Family Systems Theory to measure the impact that family has on African American family owned and operated businesses. There were 96 participants who utilized three survey instruments, The Thompson Questionnaire, The Differentiation of Self Inventory, and the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument. Metrics were established in order to measure the rate of African American family owned business resources and current business success. One hypothesis was tested to connect the variables between family dynamics and business success. This hypothesis was not confirmed because all respondents were considered somewhat successful and had some resources in place. On the other hand, there were several hypotheses that were tested with regards to family dynamics and business success. Essentially, 44.5% of the remaining hypotheses were confirmed and 55.5% were not confirmed. The significance of this study relates to the relevance of the implications, which applies to entrepreneurs, government, and practitioners.