Management Consulting in Family Businesses

Many family businesses refrain from using management consultants to support their strategic decision making. But why do some of them use consultants? And what are the reasons not to use management consultants?

This book highlights under which conditions consultants are seen to be helpful and when they are rejected. It researches the use of management consultants in family businesses from different perspectives of organizational boundary research. Family businesses vary from each other. Family generation of owner & management, family influence, goal divergence among owners, and complexity are important dimensions that distinguish family businesses in their use of management consultants. This book helps family business managers and owners to understand when the use of management consultants is beneficial to them and when they should refrain from using consultants. Furthermore, it supports management consultants in tailoring their support to specific family business situations.

This research is based on an innovative paper-based conjoint experiment with top managers of large German family businesses analyzing more than 1,700 decisions to use management consultants.