Corporate Governance in Family Businesses - A Review

Family Businesses form the pillars of most economies across the globe. These businesses are a major contributor to wealth creation and employment creation which at the same time have ensured that quality products and services reach to the consumer. Most successful multinational business has commenced their operations as Family Businesses and has successfully grown to be multinational brands. These businesses they have their own set of strong points as well as weaknesses. Like any other business, corporate governance is as much of concern here. Since being family owned and family run, the issue of corporate governance is usually neglected with one school of thought claiming absolutely no need. With the growing competitiveness in the market and with Family Businesses going public, the business or firm cannot avoid implementation of the corporate governance norms for fair and transparent functioning. The paper reviews the literature available with the aim to identify the weaknesses/limitations of Family Businesses and provide suggestions with the way that these can be overcome. With the help of readily available researched work, a detailed SWOT analysis has been carried out of the existing Family Businesses so as to identify their strong points, know their weaknesses, capitalise of their opportunities and overcome their threats.