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Notwithstanding the relevance of managerial control systems (MCS) in any organization, as well the distinctive role they can play in family business, due to its specific features, the literature rarely dealt with the role and characteristics of MCS in family business. Taking into account previous contributions from different disciplines (organization, management accounting, and family business), the current work aims to better understand the state of the art about research in the field of MCS in family business in order to identify main research gaps and propose future research directions.

Forty-five articles have been analyzed, which were issued in 29 sources. Research findings show that the literature on MCS in family business is limited and not very conclusive. Some authors focused on the type of controls, other authors outlined the role of MCS in managerialization and the relation with professionalization. A few studies focused on some specific mechanisms, especially strategic planning and compensation. Some contributes dealt with MCS’ determinants and impacts. Differences between family and non-family firms were proposed. However, a clear and organized picture of the features of MCS in family firms, their determinants, and impacts has not yet been developed. Particularly, the impact of the distinctive features of family business on MCS represents an underdeveloped research field along with how MCS can be differently developed and used in different kinds of family firms. In the light of findings of the literature review, we propose a reference research framework on MCS in family business.

Despite the expected benefits to stakeholders, as well as the number of contributes aiming at identifying and proposing best practices on the integrated reporting (IR) adoption, it seems that the IR struggles to be diffused in companies. Several are the reasons explaining this evidence. It could mainly be the consequence of some critical issues underlying IR implementation, such as difficulties in the complete application of the IR framework.

Strictly related to this last aspect is the topic of the IR quality that recently has begun to gain interest both in the literature and in the empirical research. Particularly, the issues of IR quality and its determinants now appear to be more important than the IR quantity.

Starting from these premises, this chapter aims to identify the determinants of IR quality. The authors have identified main drivers of IR quality, considering previous studies on voluntary disclosure and in particular on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability disclosure while with reference to the quality assessment of IR, the authors have used the Integrated Reporting Scoreboard, recently proposed in the literature.

After developing the research hypothesis, an empirical analysis has been carried out on a sample of IRs issued by 55 companies in a three-year period.

The main research results highlight, on the one hand, that the main determinants of IR quality are the country where the company operates, in particular European ones and mandatory IR countries; on the other hand, industry and firm’s size don’t seem to have a positive impact on IR quality.

The purpose of the present paper is to investigate whether the transition from a family business to a non‐family business affects the institutionalisation of management accounting.

This paper is based on an online survey among all large and medium‐sized Austrian firms. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were used to test the impact of the level of family influence on aspects of the institutionalisation of management accounting. Firm size is included as the main control variable.

A lower level of influence from the controlling family was found to be correlated with the institutionalisation and intensification of management accounting in medium‐sized firms. For large firms, such a linear relationship could not be drawn. The level of education of management accountants was inversely correlated with the level of family influence in both large and medium‐sized firms.

Further research into the reasons, underlying drivers and inter‐organisational promoters of management accounting change in family businesses is needed. Furthermore, the organisational impacts of the transition from family businesses to non‐family businesses deserve further investigation.

A framework for assessing the organisational effects of the transition from family businesses to non‐family businesses is provided. The empirical results on the impact of the transition on the institutionalisation of management accounting are presented. The level of family influence was found to act as a significant contextual factor for the organisation of management accounting in medium‐sized firms.

To analyse the role of after‐sales services in manufacturing contexts, and the related after‐sales performance measurement systems.

An exploratory case study research was performed in the automotive, household appliance, IT and consumer electronics industries. The sample is made up of 48 firms with after‐sales operations in Italy.

The role attributed to after‐sales activities in the IT and consumer electronics and household appliance industries shows an orientation to improve company image, customer satisfaction and retention (marketing focus). A different situation characterises the companies studied in the automotive industry. In most firms, however, measurement systems are quite simple and short‐term oriented, especially in the IT and consumer electronics and household appliance industries. The measurement of non‐financial performance emphasises effectiveness rather than efficiency, and the automotive industry, on the whole, presents more advanced measurement systems, together with more integrated strategic management of after‐sales. The household appliance industry, on the other hand, due to the significant presence of SMEs, is characterised by less sophisticated performance measurement systems.

Provides a representation of current empirical practices in after‐sales role and performance measurement, a topic insufficiently covered by conceptual and empirical research.

This paper investigates the impact of various leadership styles on the professionalization and subsequent performance of family businesses.

Using a survey method and employing a partial least squares approach to structural equation modeling, we tested our model and analyzed the collected data based on the responses of 216 managers in Iran.

Our research demonstrates that professionalization mediates the relationship between leadership style and performance. Moreover, our findings show that the participative leadership style is the most effective option for family businesses seeking to achieve professionalization and improve performance.

First, the sample used in this study was drawn from a single country, namely Iran. Second, although we adhered to established practices for measuring financial performance, future research could explore alternative dimensions of performance, including non-financial goals. Third, we did not investigate the impact of different leadership styles on each dimension of professionalization.

These findings provide valuable insights for family business managers seeking to adopt a suitable leadership style to achieve professional management and realize favorable outcomes.

Our study suggests that examining the potential impact of leadership styles on professionalization can provide clarity amidst mixed findings regarding the influence of professionalization on firm performance. Additionally, we challenge the oversimplified categorization of professionalization and argue for a multifaceted view, contending that professionalization comprises various dimensions acting concurrently and potentially mediates the effect of leadership styles on family business performance.

This chapter examines how entrepreneurs are addressing some of society's greatest challenges by taking over some of the functions of government and charities. It's driving change, but is it the kind of change we want to see? The chapter examines the growing body of literature on entrepreneurship which looks at this question and focuses on some key areas. These areas, including entrepreneur values and motivation, prosocial behaviour, entrepreneurial education and more form the concepts that underpin both the research and the online training intervention I've developed. The chapter highlights one of the most important findings from a review of the existing literature; that the world needs people with prosocial values and motivations, and entrepreneurs as a group could make a significant contribution to society. In the chapter, there's also a discussion about what needs to happen to enable them to make that contribution and an examination of what the existing research says.

This paper explores the field of human resource management (HRM) in family firms, assessing the evolution of this research through a four-domain model that reflects the relationships between cognitions, actions and performances associated with organizational choices.

The authors have performed a bibliometric review of 363 peer-reviewed papers from over the past four decades (1976–2016) in order to provide activity indicators for the overall phenomenon and systemize the entire body of literature into specific HRM strategy domains or practices, using a double-entered pivot table.

The study framework provides managerial implications with regard to the HRM decisions made when attempting to improve human capital in family firms. Accordingly, the authors view HRM-centered decisions and strategies in family firms as ways to scan for and appraise contingent dimensions, make sense of the current environment, make good choices and achieve high performance levels.

The authors offer this four-domain theoretical scheme as a framework through which the field can be interpreted, proposing some potential avenues for moving forward.

This article aims to increase the understanding of the role of individual actors and arenas in dealing with multiple institutional logics in family firms.

This study follows a case-study approach of two family-owned newspaper companies. Based on interviews and secondary sources, the empirical material was analysed focussing on three institutional logics, that is, family logic, management logic and journalistic logic.

First, the authors show how and in which arenas competing logics are balanced in family-owned newspaper companies. Second, the authors highlight that family owners are central actors in the process of balancing different institutional logics. Further, they analyse how family members can become hybrid owner-managers, meaning that they have access to all institutional logics and become central actors in the balancing process.

The authors reveal how multiple institutional logics are balanced in family firms by including formal actors and arenas as additional lenses. Therefore, owning family members, especially hybrid owner-managers, are the best-suited individual actors to balance competing logics. Hybrid owner-managers are members of the owner families who are also skilled in one or several professions.

The purpose of this article is to comprehensively review the empirical literature on management accounting and control in family businesses and to identify future research avenues. Academic interest in the field of management accounting and control in family businesses has increased considerably during the past decade. Family businesses constitute a unique organisational form that apparently faces a lower degree of information asymmetry compared to non-family businesses. In turn, this may limit their need for management accounting and control systems. However, recent reviews of accounting in family businesses have not yet comprehensively reviewed the literature on management accounting and control. The present paper aims to close this gap.

This review follows the guidelines proposed by Tranfield et al. (2003) for conducting a systematic literature review. This paper has identified 33 relevant articles, which were scanned for findings on the antecedents, configurations and outcomes of management accounting and control in family businesses.

Management accounting and control seem to be generally less relevant to family businesses than to non-family businesses. This review suggests, however, that this finding is true primarily for smaller firms, not for larger firms. In family businesses, mutual trust, family-specific goals and the centralisation of power emerge as important antecedents of management accounting and control, but they are also affected by the use of management accounting and control instruments.

This paper identifies a need for more research concerning institutionalisation and the instruments of management accounting and control in family businesses. Future studies on this topic should include more demographic characteristics to isolate the family effect from other corporate governance effects, as this has been disregarded by most extant studies.

This paper is the first comprehensive review to provide a synthesis of the literature on management accounting and control in family businesses.