The European Academy of Management with an ad-hoc Strategic Interest Group on “Family Business Research” aims to be the ideal opportunity to assess the conceptual development, empirical research, and future directions of the family business field within a broader community of European scholars of management. We envision this SIG as an international arena to attract contributions of both new scholars of the field and scholars from the established community in family business, that will provide new insights on topics that have received significant attention in the past, as well as we especially encourage scholars to undertake innovative papers and discussions of topics that have not received much attention but are important in the field.
SIG OFFICERS (2025-2026):
SIG Programme Chair, Prof. Dr. Rafaela Gjergji, LIUC, gjergji@liuc.it
SIG Programme Chair-Elect, Sandra Fiedler, Chemnitz University of Technology, sandra.fiedler@wiwi.tu-chemnitz.de
SIG Communications Officer, Samuel Appleton, University of Bergamo, samuel.appleton@unibg.it
FAMILY BUSINESS RESEARCH SIG STANDING TRACKS
GT04_00 – Family Business Research General Track
Short description:
Family-owned firms are one of the foundations of the world’s business community. Their creation, growth, and longevity are critical to the success of the global economy. Driven by unique goals that interact at multiple levels, they continue to stimulate research which is progressing in terms of theory building. However, the systematic adoption of comprehensive and theoretically grounded frameworks that effectively capture the peculiarities of family businesses is still lacking. To advance our field, we welcome papers investigating one or several dimensions of family businesses, with multitheoretical and multi-level approaches, and cross-cultural research. We are particularly interested in contributing to the
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG):
Goal 4: Quality education; Goal 5: Gender equality; Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth; Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure; Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities; Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production
For more information contact:
Sandra Fiedler, Chemnitz University of Technology, Professorship of Organization and International Management – sandra.fiedler@wiwi.tu-chemnitz.de
ST04_01 – Behavior, Performance, and Sustainability in Family Firms
Short description:
The Track “Behavior, Performance, and Sustainability in Family Firms” focuses on family firms’ governance, strategies and policies and their influence on sustainable practices and financial performance. In the Twin Transition era, the Track also explores how family firms manage digital technologies for enhancing family firms sustainable performance. Consistently with EURAM 2026 theme “Navigating high waters – Managing in an age of disruption”, the Track welcomes theoretical and empirical, quantitative and qualitative papers that highlight how family firms’ traits (e.g.: longevity, psychological ownership, altruism, risk-aversion) affect their environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices and, in turn, their financial performance.
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG):
Goal 1: No poverty; Goal 2: Zero hunger; Goal 3: Good health and well-being for people; Goal 4: Quality education; Goal 5: Gender equality; Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation; Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy; Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth; Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure; Goal 10: Reducing inequalities; Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities; Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production; Goal 13: Climate action; Goal 14: Life below water; Goal 15: Life on land; Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions; Goal 17: Partnerships for the goals
For more information contact:
Mario Ossorio, Università degli Studi della Campania – mario.ossorio@unicampania.it
ST04_02 – Family Business in Emerging, Developing, and Transitional Economies
Short description:
The “Family business in emerging, developing and transition economies” track aims to contribute to conversations in the family business research field in three ways. First, by encouraging researchers to borrow and replicate research strategies, we expect to foster the generalization of results and test mainstream theories and approaches across contexts. Second, by encouraging researchers to borrow and extend research strategies, we call for scholars to incorporate the specificities of the environment-family relationship to contextualize the family business phenomenon. Finally, by fostering the development of new research designs to build theory around the influence of context on family business and business
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG):
Goal 1: No poverty; Goal 2: Zero hunger; Goal 3: Good health and well-being for people; Goal 4: Quality education; Goal 5: Gender equality; Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation; Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy; Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth; Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure; Goal 10: Reducing inequalities; Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities; Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production; Goal 13: Climate action; Goal 14: Life below water; Goal 15: Life on land; Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions; Goal 17: Partnerships for the goals
For more information contact:
Rodrigo Basco, American University of Sharjah – bascorodrigo@gmail.com