Sociology of the Business Family Kleve & Koellner

Family sociologists have conducted empirical research and developed theories on a wide range of family topics and family forms. In this context, it is surprising that one particular family form has so far received little attention in family sociology: the business family. This topic has also been largely neglected in classical economic research, where the primary focus has been on the family business rather than on the business family itself. This neglect is especially unsatisfactory given that the family business is the dominant type of enterprise shaping the economic system in Germany and in many other countries. It is precisely the business family that differentiates this type of enterprise from others.

In attempts to define the concept of the “family business,” three prominent approaches have been discussed: the involvement approach, the essence approach, and the family firm identity approach. Among these, the involvement approach has been particularly influential. It emphasizes that family businesses are enterprises founded by families or by members of one or more families and managed by them at least into the second generation.

According to this approach, family members own the company, are involved in its operations, and/or act as shareholders, thereby exercising decisive influence over the firm. Building on this understanding, the essence approach highlights the fundamental differences between family and non-family businesses. From this perspective, the ownership and active involvement of a family group give rise to a distinctive mode of operating the firm, which in turn produces a specific family firm identity—an idea further developed in the family firm identity approach.

This book is a translation of the original German edition “Soziologie der Unternehmerfamilie” by Kleve, Heiko, published by Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, in 2019. The translation was done with the help of arti cial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com).

A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically differently from a conventional translation

Heiko Kleve Prof. Dr., is sociologist and social pedagogue, holder of the Chair for Organization and Development of Business Families at WIFU – Witten Institute for Family Business, Faculty of Economics, University of Witten/Herdecke.

Tobias Koellner Dr. Habil., is anthropologist and sociologist, Senior Reserch Fellow at the WIFU – Witten Institute for Family Business. Faculty of Economics, University of Witten/Herdecke.