Family Enterprise in the Asia Pacific

Book excerpt: This book analyzes the findings reported in the first Asia Pacific summit of the Successful Transgenerational Entrepreneurship Practices (STEP) project. Researchers in Australia, China, and India discussed eleven in-depth case studies to shed light on the challenges that business families and family businesses faced in continuing and extending their entrepreneurial capabilities across multiple generations. Based on a common research framework from STEP, each chapter introduces key findings and challenges existing theory, offering answers to two broad questions in the Asia Pacific context: How do business families and family businesses generate and sustain entrepreneurial performance across generations and how does entrepreneurial performance relate to the continuity, growth and transgenerational entrepreneurship of business families and family businesses? In doing so, the authors look at key issues faced by family business including dealing with communication issues across generations, resolving conflict between siblings, preparing and luring younger generations back to family business, and professionalization of business. The chapters go beyond the succession and governance challenges and explore the processes and outcomes of entrepreneurship in the AustralAsian family context. Academics, teachers and students in business and management, entrepreneurship and family business, and Asian studies will find this path-breaking book of great value, as will libraries, policymakers and consultants.