Family Social Capital Versus Nepotism in Family Businesses

In the scientific literature on family business management, nepotism - standing for owner's preference for hiring family members rather than unrelated job applicants - is considered to be problematic and a potential threat for the development of family firms due to the conviction that the nepots are likely not to have the appropriate professional capabilities to take on managerial positions. They may engage in the business less, make mistakes and demotivate non-family employees. Some academics claim that family plays a positive role in the business but only at the first, entrepreneurial stage of its life circle, and later it may be detrimental to the business undertaking. Contrary to popular opinion in this field in Poland, the author tries to acknowledge that the influence of nepotism on a business, regardless of its size, is positive and constitutes a kind of continuum between the neutral effect and strong competitive advantage resulting from the family social capital - an intangible, strategic resource inherent only in close family relationships. The author refers to selected concepts and theories applied in the science of management, such as: the sociological theory of organized action, organizational equilibrium theory, social exchange theory, agency theory and stewardship theory.