The Palestinian Family Businesses

The Palestinian family firm has the advantage of management performance regarding to some financial, marketing and operational aspects compared to the non-family firm, including the rate of return on investments, assets turnover ratio (times a year), inventory turnover ratio, labor productivity and less cost of marketing through using generic product brands, and less cost of sales credit policy. On the other hand, the Palestinian non-family firm had several advantages over family firms in other aspects. For example, the Palestinian non-family firms accomplished higher net profit to sales ratio, it had the advantages of using more credit facilities to finance its working capital, it had less idle capacity, and it was located mainly in proper places and inside industrial zones. About one quarter of the Palestinian entrepreneurs initiated their own family businesses without previous technical experience, while another quarter used to have such experience at least by one of the family member. The other ways and means of entrepreneurs to establish their own family businesses included the conversion from trade to industry, the expansion from workshop to industry or from employee to employer using the old facility of the previous employer