Knowledge management in family business succession: current trends and future directions
Journal of Knowledge Management
ISSN: 1367-3270
Article publication date: 10 October 2021
Issue publication date: 22 February 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the literature on knowledge management in the family business, addressing the research question as follows: “How is knowledge managed across generations in the family business?” This study synthesizes the literature, highlighting the role of multiple stakeholders who affect knowledge management along with the phases of the succession process. Stemming from these findings and embracing a practice-based view, this paper offers research directions to guide future contributions on knowledge construction in the family business. The purpose of this study is not only to conclude the previous research but also to provide insights for future research directions and to provide practical implications.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a systematic integrative literature review, this paper collects map and analytically examine 63 published peer-reviewed articles related to knowledge management in the family business from 39 academic journals. This paper applies a rigorous approach to identify the sample of articles, map descriptive information of the reviewed literature and map theoretical contributions according to a multi-stakeholder and multi-stage framework.
Findings
The sampled articles are analyzed according to a multi-stakeholder and multi-stage framework inspired by Daspit et al. (2016). This study identifies critical gaps emerging from the analysis, thus opening the way to future research directions. In particular, this paper prompts scholars to advance the understanding of family-related knowledge and to clarify the assumptions on knowledge in their research.
Research limitations/implications
This paper contributes to the debate on knowledge management in the family business, by systematizing the current literature. In addition, this study embraces a “knowledge from practice perspective” and offers research directions to guide future contributions on knowledge construction in family business succession and potential areas to further management research investigating the role of family-related knowledge. Practical implications are also provided to benefit family businesses, consultants and policymakers.
Originality/value
This study provides a systematic integrative literature review of the articles published on knowledge management in family business according to a multi-stakeholder and multi-stage framework. Moreover, it draws an agenda for future research advancing a “knowledge from a practice perspective” in the family business literature.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express our sincere thanks to colleagues who provided kind feedback to our paper during the EuFBC Seminar on the 24th of March 2021.Funding: RADMA PhD Scholarship.
Citation
Ge, B. and Campopiano, G. (2021), "Knowledge management in family business succession: current trends and future directions", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 326-349. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-09-2020-0701
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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