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Overview of Family Business Relevant Issues - Final Report
5.1.4 Support Service Providers In contrast to employers’ organisations and governments rather providing general services that implicitly also benefit family businesses, among support service providers (both, public and private ones) across Europe several target group specific initiatives are available. Here again, a certain focus on the issue of business transfer and succession (e.g., training, conflict resolution mechanisms, market places like the ones described above offered by the employers’ organisations) exists. For Finland, experts mention that although the availability of support services for business successions has been increasing since the turn of the century the demand is often exceeding supply. Another important area of support services refers to general management consultancy (i.e., specifics of managing a family business). Some of the offered services also deal with family business governance or the provision of cheap loans. Many of family business specific support services are offered by family business networks. Among support service providers particularly education/training institutions are engaged in offering measures explicitly targeting at family businesses (i.e., current and future owners/managers). Several universities have established family business management courses or even chairs (especially widespread in Spain) and are, at the same time, conducting research about the sector. With regard to the latter, also a variety of private research institutes are active. Research on family businesses is more widespread in Western than in Eastern Europe. The main topics covered in both, education and research, are awareness about their economic and social/societal contribution, management and governance, succession (planning and procedures), family-business-interrelationships (including, for example, family conflicts, employment of family members) as well as innovation, competitiveness, growth and internationalisation. In this context, also the International Family Enterprise Research Academy (IFERA)34 is to be mentioned. Founded in 2001, it is geared towards advancing family business research, theory and practice through enhanced interdisciplinary collaboration. To achieve these objectives, IFERA among others organises annual research conferences and workshops, disseminates newsletters to about 600 researchers or co-operates with academic journals. Although being targeted at researchers, everyone interested in family business research may become an associate (the annual membership fee amounts to EUR 100 for students and EUR 200 for others).
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http://www.ifera.org