 Blood in the boardroom: Family relationships influencing the functions of the boardSven-Olof Yrjö Collin and Jenny Ahlberg Journal of Family Business Strategy, 2012, vol. 3, issue 4, 207-219 Abstract: The board of directors at the family firm is often dominated by family members. While research has acknowledged the presence of the family, it has neglected the actual family composition of the board and the effects it has on the board's activities. We study the family composition of the board through using insights from evolutionary psychology, stressing genetic kinship. We present a model where the contingency of genetic relationships of the family directors influences the functional emphasis of the family firm's board. Testing the hypotheses on a convenience sample of 68 small and medium-sized Swedish family firms, we find indications of genetic kinship influencing the functions of the board. We suggest the development of the family conception along these lines, where the importance of kinship ties and characteristics of nepotism are explored. The practical implication is a recommendation for families to have a conscious strategy to manage nepotism. Keywords: Family; Kinship; Nepotism; Board of directors; Family firm (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:fambus:v:3:y:2012:i:4:p:207-219 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1016/j.jfbs.2012.11.001 Access Statistics for this article Journal of Family Business Strategy is currently edited by J.H. Astrachan More articles in Journal of Family Business Strategy from Elsevier |
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