Father-Daughter and Father-Son Family Business Management Transfer Comparison : Family FIRO Model Application

The purpose of the study was to investigate power structures and interactions among father-daughter and father-son family business decision teams experiencing management transfer. Analytic induction was the methodology used to test the family FIRO theory. Support was found for the theoretical premise of sequential and developmental relationships among the three dimensions (inclusion, control, and integration). The women in the father-son business experienced feelings of exclusion, incidents of higher conflict among family members, which produced less shared meaning, and lower levels of integration among family members. On the other hand, women in the father-daughter business experienced feelings of inclusion, resulting in lower conflict that created high levels of shared meaning, collaboration, and integration among family members. In management transfer consultations, if the entire family business decision team is not included in information gathering, and if the decision team is not observed interacting as a group, with individuals being allowed to confidentially confirm or refute the group interaction data, biased information may be obtained. For more successful adaptations in management transfers, power structures and interactions need to be reconstructed; failure to do so leads to confusion and conflict, resulting in distrust and lack of fellowship within the management decision team