Title: Leading transformation in a family-owned business: insights from an Italian company

Authors: Filomena Canterino; Stefano Cirella; Marco Guerci; Abraham B. Shani; Massimo S. Brunelli

Addresses: Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via Lambruschini, 4/B, 20156 Milan, Italy ' Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via Lambruschini, 4/B, 20156 Milan, Italy ' Department of Social and Political Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Conservatorio, 7, 20122 Milan, Italy ' Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via Lambruschini, 4/B, 20156 Milan, Italy; Orfalea College of Business, California Polytechnic State University, 1 Grand Avenue Building 3, 93407 San Luis Obispo, CA, USA ' IDeA FIMIT, Via Brera, 21, 20121 Milan, Italy

Abstract: The increasing volatility of the global economy, coupled with the pace of technological innovation, presents new challenges for family-owned businesses. The complex business dynamics and business inertia of family-owned business require a comprehensive perspective when developing the capability to manage transformations in the face of a business context such as this. This article draws on literature from the field of organisational change and development, organisational behaviour and family business, and proposes an integrative framework. The study is embedded in a collaborative research project with an Italian fashion design company, and portrays a five-year transformation process, starting with the family's decision to hire an external CEO for the first time in its hundred-year history. What has been learned from the case serves as the foundation for a further advancement of the proposed process-model for the management of a transformation in a family-owned business. The implications for research and practice are discussed.

Keywords: organisational transformation; organisational change; transformational leadership; organisational behaviour; family firms; family businesses; Italy; fashion design; fashion industry; process modelling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEIM.2013.055248

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2013 Vol.17 No.1/2/3, pp.54 - 83

Received: 06 Aug 2012
Accepted: 15 Mar 2013

Published online: 30 Apr 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article