Conflict Management Strategies Used by Successful Family Businesses

This paper reports the analyses of a survey of 59 family businesses. Findings indicate that in comparison to nonfamily businesses, family businesses have a more complex set of issues to consider when managing conflict. Collaboration, accommodation, and compromise strategies produce relatively better outcomes for both family and business. A competitive strategy results in relatively negative outcomes for both business and family. High levels of collaboration contribute to positive outcomes for both family and business, and high levels of compromise and accommodation contribute to positive family outcomes. Based on a comparison of means, this paper identifies conflict management profiles for achieving positive outcomes for both business and family.

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