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Team photo from the WIFU Endowed Chair in the Organisation and Development of Entrepreneurial Families

Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (MUT)

WIFU Endowed Chair for Organisation and Development of Business Families

A social science analysis of entrepreneurial families and their role in the economy and society

The endowed chair at the Witten Institute for Family Businesses (WIFU) focuses its research and teaching on sociological, social-psychological and social-pedagogical issues relating to entrepreneurial families and their connection to the economic sciences.

Kinship ties between business owners or between shareholders in family businesses can both strengthen the business as a resource and – particularly in the event of intra-family conflicts – pose a serious threat to it. Consequently, research at the Chair examines the internal dynamics of entrepreneurial families and their impact on the business, as well as the influence the business has on the family. In this context, we also explore the specific social function that entrepreneurial families fulfil. For example, we discuss the hypothesis that family businesses – primarily through their family ownership – realise a connection that is unusual for our economic system: they link economic innovative strength within the business with the family-sustaining orientation (‘sustainability for future generations’) of the owner family. In addition, the Chair focuses on growing up, upbringing, socialisation and lifestyle within entrepreneurial families.

In summary, the research and teaching activities of the WIFU Endowed Chair for Organisation and Development of Business Families shed light on the following questions:

  • What are the distinctive features of entrepreneurial families?
  • How do businesses and families influence one another?
  • How do large, multigenerational entrepreneurial families organise themselves?
  • How do entrepreneurial families cope with social change, such as the individualisation of life courses and the pluralisation of life worlds?
  • What distinctive features characterise socialisation and lifestyles in entrepreneurial families?
  • What is the experience of growing up as a child or young person in an entrepreneurial family?
  • What social function do entrepreneurial families fulfil?
  • What forms of support (counselling, coaching, mediation and organisational development) are suitable for entrepreneurial families?

Chair holder

Portrait photo of Univ.-Prof Dr Heiko Kleve

Univ.-Prof. Dr.

Heiko Kleve

Managing & Academic Director

Faculty of Management, Economics and Society (Department of Management and Entrepreneurship)  |  Witten Institute for Family Business (WIFU)

Chair holder

Faculty of Management, Economics and Society (Department of Management and Entrepreneurship)  |  WIFU Endowed Chair for Organisation and Development of Business Families

Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50
58455 Witten

Room number: NB-1.055.2

Orcid ID: 0000-0002-2074-9516

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Research

We are expanding research and teaching on family businesses to include a social science perspective on the family aspect of family businesses. The challenges faced by entrepreneurial families, which arise from the interplay of three systems – the business, the family and the legal ownership of the business by family members – can be examined particularly effectively using sociological systems theory. We therefore pursue research perspectives that are oriented towards systems theory and systemic constructivism and are based on qualitative research designs.

The Chair’s current research topics are:

  • System theory of the entrepreneurial family
  • Sociology of the entrepreneurial family
  • The ‘triple family’ – large entrepreneurial families as families, organisations and networks
  • Growing up, upbringing and socialisation in entrepreneurial families
  • Systemic counselling, in particular systemic constellations as a method of reflection and support for entrepreneurial families
  • Family businesses and entrepreneurial families in Japan – differences and similarities with German family businesses

Current research projects

Publications

Teaching

The teaching focuses on the distinctive characteristics of entrepreneurial families from a social science perspective, in particular from the fields of sociology, social psychology and social pedagogy. The Chair is responsible for delivering the following courses:

  • Social Psychology and Sociology of the Family Business and the Entrepreneurial Family
  • Systemic Leadership and Decision-Making in Entrepreneurial Families and Family Businesses
  • Theory of the Entrepreneurial Family and the Family Business
  • Group Dynamics Training Group
  • Theory of Group Dynamics
  • Practical Reflection Module

The team at the WIFU Endowed Chair for Organisation and Development of Business Families