Considerations of work group support as an undervalued resource for the competitive advantage of family firms
The purpose of the research is to examine and understand the support behaviours among the members of a work group as they can have an important relationship with a firm’s competitive advantage. We are specifically interested in this relationship regarding family businesses, as the group behaviour will be unique in these family firm contexts. Greater understanding of this effect will mean small business can better use this advantage for better business outcomes.
The project examines how the supportive behaviour within a work group is unique within a family firm context as relationships between members are based on factors beyond the workplace. The relationships have the potential to be stronger, providing a unique resource (as it cannot be transferred to another firm) that can significantly contribute to a family firm’s competitive advantage.. In many family businesses not only is the business handed down from one generation to the next but also employees stay loyal to the company for a long time, and sometimes even over more than one generation. This means children and even grandchildren of former employees may belong to the human resource pool of a family firm. This impacts on the nature of group relations in the family-firm workplace. Interviews with a number of case organisations (small family and non-family firms) are being conducted.
PPRG contact: Professor Lisa Bradley