Organizational assessment of family businesses: Development of a methodology for use by family business consultants.

摘要

A methodology of organizational assessment described by Alderfer (1980) was applied to a case study of a family owned and operated franchised automobile dealership. The aim was to evaluate whether the methodology is appropriate for use by family business consultants. Twenty-seven interviews, eight with family members, were conducted, analyzed and reported back to organizational members in an attempt to achieve a widely shared understanding of the organization. Embedded intergroup relations theory was employed as a framework to understand and explain organizational behavior; results suggest that the theory is useful in both these respects. Findings indicate the presence of two general classes of issues that are important to organizational life: business issues (also referred to as external issues) and family (internal) issues. This finding provides support of Lansberg's theory of institutional overlap which suggests that family businesses are unique in that they contain two systems (the business and the family) that operate under competing norms. Limitations in the method were also uncovered; specifically the organizational assessment can be lengthy and expensive which may limit its application to larger more well financed firms. Additionally, questions remain as to whether or not the method, as employed, adequately addresses family functioning outside the business and the effect such functioning has on the organizational dynamics documented during the assessment.