- Not connected
- |
- Login
You consult a document to analyse its content and determine whether it is useful for your teaching purposes. You order a document to use it in class. Note that the use of certain cases is subject to charges. These cases are easily identified by our business partners’ logos. When you want to use one of these cases in an educational context, you are redirected to the trading partner with which you will carry out the transaction.
Family and Its Small Businesses: Was It all Worth It? (A)
Languages
:
- English
Keywords:
- Family firm,
- Couples in business,
- Small business
Year of production
:
2015
Registration date
:
2015-12-08
Teaching notes included
:
Yes
Abstract
Many family business cases are about larger companies in significant businesses. However, most family firms, including those in North America, are small and are almost entirely comprised of family members just trying to make a living. The above case, with only a few elements disguised, is of two very small businesses, one a snack bar, the other a pastry shop, owned and operated – in sequence – by a married couple struggling to get by. Despite the microcosm aspects of the example, it illustrates many of the human and commercial issues that sustain and limit these enterprises.
Primary domain
:
Management
- Entrepreneurship
Secondary domain
:
Not available
Sectors
:
- Consumer goods
Type
:
Brief case (Descriptive or analytical case)
Type of data used in the production of the case
:
Fictional data inspired by real-life situations, but significantly transformed
Event location
:
Montréal, QC, Canada
Year of start of the event
:
1945
Year the event ended
:
Not available
Business size
:
Micro-enterprise
Main themes covered
- Family firms
- Small business
- Couples in business
Teaching objectives
The objectives are to provide insights into the motivations and consequences of small “mom and pop shops” of necessity entrepreneurs. The motivations reflect family goals of providing an income for lower-middle class families with few monetary or knowledge-based resources but a strong work ethic. The case also illustrates some of the social conventions and personality factors that can prevent a business from prospering and providing upward social mobility for its owners.
Concepts and theories related to the case
The case may be linked to concepts of necessity entrepreneurship and socio-emotional wealth as well as the family dynamics literature. Resource- and knowledge-based views may also be applied.