Family governance as a critical success factor in strategic change
In a large-scale research project on strategic changes in family firms, funded by the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO), Hasselt University and the University of Antwerp are currently investigating the elements that contribute to successful strategic changes in the context of family firms. As a member of the users group, GUBERNA actively contributes to the development of the project.
The first results of this research project show that the governance aspect plays a vital role in this matter. For example, 68% of the participating family firms indicate that they have an active Board of Directors or Advisory Board, which appears to have a positive link with strategic changes.
The presence of a family charter, of which 21.7% of the participating family firms indicate that they have it, or a family council or forum, which 25% of the participating family firms indicate to have, also appears to be beneficial for strategic changes. In addition, the values that are central to the family firm also appear to play an important role in the context of strategic changes.
