Cultural anthropology. The relationship between family and business

Cultural anthropology

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The relationship between family and business has been quite a controversial topic of discussion with many of the chiefdom societies encouraging economic activities and transactions with family members. Conversely to this, some argue against family involvement to business as it limits expansion of economic institutions. My aim in this paper is to show how families negatively impact on businesses.

Growth is an essential part of every business and management plays a vital role to ensure that the objectives of the business are met. A myriad of issues ranging from financial to human resource management should be addressed to ensure the business is a going concern and also grows. It is very important to ensure that the business requirements top the priority list. If family members do not end up paying for services or simply demand goods at subsidized rates below the per unit cost, objectives such as profit maximization will always remain unachieved. This will soon result to conflicts between the service providers and the related recipients. The service providers will feel exploited by the service recipients and would have to address this challenge by employing protectionism policies at the expense of family ties. The recipients will then perceive the providers as selfish members who are not willing to ‘help’. This will be the onset of internal conflicts.

Regarding the human resource department, the employees are viewed as the greatest turn-over assets within the business. The less committed employees are vulnerable to dismissals. It will be very difficult to make such tough managerial decisions when it comes to an unproductive family member who does not add value to the business. Such decisions should precede family ties for the success of the business. In my opinion, investors should not mix business with family and if in any case such a situation is inevitable, they should ensure that the principles of the business prevail.

References

Bowie, N. E., & Schneider, M. (2011). Business ethics for dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Starbuck, W. H., Holloway, S., Whalen, P. S., & Tilleman, S. G. (2008). Organizational learning and knowledge management. Cheltenham, Glos, UK: Edward Elgar Pub..Marianne Bertrand and Antoinette Schoar. The Role of Family in Family Firms, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Volume 20, Number 2, Spring 2006, pg. 73.