What have we learned? Themes from the literature on organizational culture in family firms

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to review the important themes in the literature on organizational culture (OC) in family firms.

Design/methodology/approach

The review of the current literature is organized around three themes: nature of OC in family firms, antecedents of OC in family firms and outcomes of OC in family firms. The discussion on each theme is followed by the suggested pointers for future research.

Findings

Much is known about the identified three themes in the literature on OC in family firms. However, the current review also highlights the limitations of the available literature. With regard to the nature of OC, some inconsistent findings are reported in the literature with regard to the types of prevailing OC in family firms. The literature also reveals a range of positive outcomes of OC. Significantly less research examines the influence of environmental factors and other moderators of OC. Given the focus of the current literature on developed countries, there is a need of more comparative studies in emerging as well as developing countries to understand how contextual factors affect OC in family business settings.

Originality/value

For each theme, the suggested pointers for future research serve as a springboard for future research and improve the theoretical understanding of OC in family firms.

Citation

Tipu, S.A.A. (2018), "What have we learned? Themes from the literature on organizational culture in family firms", European Business Review, Vol. 30 No. 6, pp. 660-675. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-02-2017-0042