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Spotlight on Research: Keeping business in the family thriving: Dr Eric Clinton
Spotlight on Research: Keeping business in the family thriving: Dr Eric Clinton

Spotlight on Research: Keeping business in the family thriving: Dr Eric Clinton

Spotlight on Research: Keeping business in the family thriving with Dr Eric Clinton, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship, DCU Business School and Director DCU Centre for Family Business

 

You are interested in family businesses – why are they particularly important?

“If you look to countries such as China, India, Brazil, USA, Italy, France and Spain, more than 85% of the firms in these countries are family businesses. The situation is similar on the island of Ireland, where family firms form the economic and social bedrock of our society.

If we leave the area in Dublin around Grand Canal Dock and the IFSC aside and look to our cities, towns and villages, it is clear to see the family business as the dominant organisational form.

Think of your own birth place, consider the businesses in your community be they hotels, bars, construction companies, fruit growers, farmers, or haulage companies. While the product or service offering may vary, one thing unites many Irish firms, namely their family orientation.

Our family businesses contribute significantly to civic wealth creation in our communities, be it in supporting the church, the scouts or the local hospice. Indeed, a good proxy of their social contribution is their sponsorship of local GAA teams right across the country.

Being a family business is unique but also poses many unique challenges emerging from the co-existence of two often competing circles: the family, which often revolves around family values and family cohesion, and the business which is often purely rational and performance driven.”

 

How did you become interested in researching entrepreneurship and family firms?

“During my Masters studies I was very fortunate to receive a scholarship to study in Tsinghua University in China. During the course of my studies I came in contact with many Asian family firms. It was by meeting with these long lived, multi-generational firms that my seed of interest was planted.

Asian family firms are truly fascinating. The survival of the family in the family business is paramount. Their commitment, passion and determination to see the business proceed across multiple generations is often their primary motivation. These firms are investing for the long term, be it in capital expenditure or putting the structures in place to ensure the next generation are given all of the necessary skills and opportunities to proceed. Within many Asian societies business is family business.

Returning from China I saw an advertisement in The Irish Times for a PhD investigating entrepreneurship across generations in family firms and so my academic journey began.”

 

What kinds of benefits are there to being a family business?

“A central ingredient in our contemporary corporate work is the importance of trust, values and heritage. While fashions may change and trends come and go, the family orientation of many of our Irish family firms remains the same.

I have worked with many Irish businesses seeking to expand into the North America and Asia. Of course the numbers need to make sense in financial transactions, be it a merger or an acquisition. But family businesses like to do business with other family businesses, and the importance of values, community grounding and legacy cannot be overstated.

Increasingly, we see Irish family firms leverage their family identity. Think of the the porridge you had for your breakfast, the cooked ham you eat at lunch or the tea you have mid-afternoon - many of these products have come from family firms who are correctly using their family brand and its heritage to promote their business.”

 

What insights are you uncovering in your research?

“What is most interesting from having worked with many thousands of Irish firms is to study their motivations. Of course financial performance, and growth are important. But much more important is the preservation of the legacy of the family business.

As a research centre, the DCU Centre for Family Business is aligned to many family business centres globally, which allows us to draw fascinating insights from across countries, cultures and religions, which we share with our Irish firms, be it the importance of clan control in Africa, or the dominance of the senior male in Asia or indeed the fundamental role of religion in Middle Eastern countries.”

 

What is the biggest challenge for you as a researcher in this area?

“Given our position under British rule for many centuries, our Irish family businesses are among the youngest in Europe, falling well below the 4th generation average.

As a result our family businesses are really only now beginning to appreciate the challenges in creating a multigenerational family firms. Such challenges include succession planning, next generation involvement, letting go of the business, in-law involvement and change.

My biggest challenge as a family business researcher is trying to meet the demand from family businesses on how to successfully pass on to the next generation.”

 

And finally, as a researcher of entrepreneurship, how does DCU support this attribute in its students?

“I think DCU is positioned as one of the most industry-engaged universities in Europe, fittingly aligning to our University of Enterprise name. I believe an innovativeness mindset is instilled in our student population from undergraduate through to PhD.

Indeed, I think we would compete with any university globally on our ability to generate academic entrepreneurs and the appetite for change and visionary thinking among our faculties.”