What is it about?
The paper operates with a historical-literary case (King Lear) and a contemporary family business case. Both are about handing over to the next generation. We use Shakespeare's insights into the psyche of the patriarch to sharpen our diagnosis of the contemporary case.
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Why is it important?
Family businesses are the most common form of businesses in the world. They all struggle - at some point - with the challenge that comes with handing over the business to the next generation. This paper add a missing perspective by stressing the importance of history, and in learning from literature that has been received and validated by readers for over 400 years as bringing important insights into analyses of leadership, power, family.
Perspectives
The study not only argues for the importance of a historical perspective when understanding family businesses, it also uses history - literary history - to diagnose a contemporary case. It enables us to describe, see and understand family business transitions in new ways.
Daniel Hjorth
Copenhagen Business School
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Burden of History in the Family Business Organization, Organization Studies, July 2016, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0170840615613375.
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