Abstract
This chapter treats the most important issues related to family businesses, such as family business definitions and categories, members of family businesses, family business systems, theoretical approaches, etc. Family businesses represent the oldest and the most common form of organizations and generate the most of new jobs in most of the countries. Researchers have recorded the predominance of family businesses in countries throughout the world, where approximately 90% of all businesses worldwide are family businesses. These businesses play a very important role in the economy and society. It should be emphasized that not all family businesses are small—they range from neighborhood’s micro-businesses to multibillion-dollar companies. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, around 35% of Fortune500-listed companies can be classified as family businesses.
Note: Selected sections of this chapter have been reused from the author’s own work [Chapter: Entrepreneurial Family Businesses and Succession Management. In Effective Entrepreneurial Management, by Robert D. Hisrich and Veland Ramadani, ©Springer, 2017] used with permission.
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Appendices
Appendix 1. The World’s Top 30 Family Businesses Ranking
Rank | Company name | Family owner(s) | Founded | Listing status | Country | Family shareholding | 2017 revenues in USD m | 2017 number of employees | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Walmart Inc. | Walton | 1945 | Public | United States | 50.70 | 495,012.00 | 2,300,000.00 | Retail and consumer products |
2 | Volkswagen AG | Porsche and Piech | 1937 | Public | Germany | 52.20 | 276,995.68 | 642,292.00 | Automotive and assembly |
3 | Berkshire Hathaway Inc. | Buffett | 1955 | Public | United States | 37.60 | 239,289.00 | 377,291.00 | Wealth and asset management |
4 | Exor NV | Agnelli | 1899 | Public | Netherlands | 53.00 | 171,175.55 | 307,637.00 | Wealth and asset management |
5 | Ford Motor Company | Ford | 1903 | Public | United States | 40.00 | 156,776.00 | 202,000.00 | Automotive and assembly |
6 | Schwarz Gruppe | Schwarz | 1930 | Private | Germany | 100.00 | 127,616.16 | 410,000.00 | Retail and consumer products |
7 | BMW AG | Quandt and Klatten | 1916 | Public | Germany | 72.70 | 118,489.43 | 133,475.00 | Automotive and assembly |
8 | Cargill, Incorporated | Cargill and MacMillan | 1865 | Private | United States | 88.00 | 109,699.00 | 155,000.00 | Diversified industries |
9 | Tata Sons Ltd | Tata | 1868 | Private | India | 73.40 | 100,000.00 | 695,669.00 | Manufacturing and industrial products |
10 | Koch Industries, Inc. | Koch | 1940 | Private | United States | 84.00 | 95,155.50 | 120,000.00 | Manufacturing and industrial products |
11 | Comcast Corporation | Roberts | 1963 | Public | United States | 33.60 | 84,526.00 | 164,000.00 | Technology, media, and entertainment |
12 | Pacific Construction Group Company Ltd | Yan | 1995 | Private | China | 90.00 | 77,205.00 | 365,425.00 | Real estate, hospitality, and construction |
13 | Dell Technologies Inc. | Dell | 1984 | Public | United States | 75.00 | 77,151.00 | 145,000.00 | Technology, media, and entertainment |
14 | Aldi Group | Albrecht | 1913 | Private | Germany | 100.00 | 74,002.98 | 188,000.00 | Retail and consumer products |
15 | Amer International Group Company Ltd | Wang Wenyin | 1994 | Private | China | 100.00 | 72,766.00 | 17,886.00 | Manufacturing and industrial products |
16 | ArcelorMittal | Mittal | 1976 | Public | Luxembourg | 37.40 | 68,679.00 | 222,000.00 | Mining and metals |
17 | Auchan Holding SA | Mulliez | 1961 | Private | France | 87.80 | 63,826.85 | 355,107.00 | Retail and consumer products |
18 | Gunvor Group Ltd | Törnqvist | 1997 | Private | Switzerland | 60.00 | 63,000.00 | 1,600.00 | Power and utilities |
19 | Reliance Industries Ltd | Ambani | 1966 | Public | India | 45.20 | 59,696.20 | 187,729.00 | Oil and gas |
20 | LG Electronics Inc. | Koo | 1947 | Public | South Korea | 37.50 | 57,473.18 | 85,905.00 | Retail and consumer products |
21 | Roche Holding AG | Hoffman and Oeri | 1896 | Public | Switzerland | 50.10 | 57,201.20 | 93,734.00 | Pharmaceuticals and medical products |
22 | Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV | Anheuser and Busch | 1366 | Public | Belgium | 41.30 | 56,444.00 | 182,915.00 | Retail and consumer products |
23 | JD.com, Inc. | Liu | 1998 | Public | China | 79.50 | 55,685.95 | 175,366.00 | Retail and consumer products |
24 | Continental Aktiengesellschaft | Schaeffler | 1871 | Public | Germany | 46.00 | 52,845.22 | 244,582.00 | Manufacturing and industrial products |
25 | LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton S.E. (aka Groupe Arnault) | Arnault | 1978 | Public | France | 46.60 | 51,195.97 | 145,000.00 | Retail and consumer products |
26 | Hinduja Group Ltd | Hinduja | 1919 | Private | India | 100.00 | 50,000.00 | 150,000.00 | Diversified industries |
27 | JBS SA | Batista | 1953 | Public | Brazil | 42.40 | 49,256.63 | 235,000.00 | Retail and consumer products |
28 | China Evergrande Group | Hui | 1996 | Public | China | 77.20 | 47,800.27 | 129,534.00 | Real estate, hospitality, and construction |
29 | Banco Santander SA | Botin | 1857 | Public | Spain | 0.00 | 47,312.68 | 202,251.00 | Banking and capital markets |
30 | Hanwha Corporation | Kim | 1952 | Public | South Korea | 36.00 | 47,183.69 | 36,000.00 | Diversified industries |
Appendix 2. The World’s Oldest Family Businesses Ranking
Rank | Company name | Family owner(s) | Founded | Listing status | Country | Family shareholding | 2017 revenues in USD m | 2017 number of employees | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV | Anheuser and Busch | 1366 | Public | Belgium | 41.30 | 56,444.00 | 182,915.00 | Retail and consumer products |
2 | Merck KGaA | Merck | 1668 | Public | Germany | 70.30 | 18,404.18 | 54,756.00 | Pharmaceuticals and medical products |
3 | Wendel-Participations SE | Wendel | 1704 | Public | France | 100.00 | 10,001.32 | 125,165.00 | Wealth and asset management |
4 | Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH | Haniel | 1756 | Private | Germany | 100.00 | 4989.19 | 18,732.00 | Diversified industries |
5 | Kirchhoff Group | Kirchhoff | 1785 | Private | Germany | 0.00 | 2565.52 | 12,300.00 | Automotive and assembly |
6 | Thai Beverage Public Co., Ltd | Sirivadhanabhakdi | 1786 | Public | Thailand | 65.90 | 5834.25 | 41,367.00 | Retail and consumer products |
7 | Molson Coors Brewing Company | Coors and Molson | 1786 | Public | United States | 92.50 | 11,002.80 | 17,200.00 | Retail and consumer products |
8 | Jerónimo Martins, SGPS, SA | Soares dos Santos | 1792 | Public | Portugal | 56.10 | 19,543.89 | 104,203.00 | Retail and consumer products |
9 | Thomson Reuters Corporation | Thomson | 1799 | Public | Canada | 59.60 | 11,333.00 | 46,100.00 | Technology, media, and entertainment |
10 | Schroders plc | Schroder and Mallinckrodt | 1804 | Public | United Kingdom | 35.80 | 3471.78 | 4619.00 | Wealth and asset management |
11 | Albert Bonnier AB | Bonnier | 1804 | Private | Sweden | 100.00 | 3148.57 | 8411.00 | Technology, media, and entertainment |
12 | D’Ieteren SA | D’Ieteren | 1805 | Public | Belgium | 60.70 | 4148.78 | 31,222.00 | Automotive and assembly |
13 | J. Bünting Beteiligungs AG | Klopp | 1806 | Private | Germany | 0.00 | 2278.86 | 14,500.00 | Retail and consumer products |
14 | Bucher Industries AG | Hauser | 1807 | Public | Switzerland | 35.20 | 2716.51 | 12,640.00 | Manufacturing and industrial products |
15 | Swire Pacific Ltd | Swire | 1816 | Public | United Kingdom | 54.90 | 10,275.74 | 130,000.00 | Diversified industries |
16 | Wieland-Werke AG | Schwenk/ Schleicher | 1820 | Private | Germany | 54.70 | 3564.22 | 6965.00 | Mining and metals |
17 | Bollore Participations SA | Bollore | 1822 | Public | France | 63.80 | 22,004.32 | 81,420.00 | Travel, transport, and logistics |
18 | Röchling SE & Co. KG | Röchling | 1822 | Private | Germany | 50.00 | 2210.52 | 8796.00 | Diversified industries |
19 | Globus Holding Gmbh & Co. KG | Bruch | 1828 | Private | Germany | 100.00 | 7421.93 | 35,176.00 | Retail and consumer products |
20 | Jardine Strategic Holdings Ltd | Keswick | 1832 | Public | Hong Kong | 50.10 | 31,556.00 | 444,000.00 | Retail and consumer products |
21 | Ayala Corp. | Zobel de Ayala | 1834 | Public | Philippines | 40.00 | 5337.85 | 55,264.00 | Banking and capital markets |
22 | Sulzer AG | Vekselberg | 1834 | Public | Switzerland | 48.80 | 3128.59 | 15,031.00 | Manufacturing and industrial products |
23 | Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA | Mohn | 1835 | Private | Germany | 100.00 | 20,751.68 | 120,807.00 | Technology, Media, and entertainment |
24 | Hermès International SA | Hermes | 1837 | Public | France | 74.70 | 6663.30 | 13,764.00 | Retail and consumer products |
25 | B. Braun Melsungen AG | Braun | 1839 | Private | Germany | 100.00 | 8151.86 | 61,583.00 | Pharmaceuticals and medical products |
26 | Aker ASA | Rokke | 1841 | Public | Norway | 68.20 | 5083.27 | 19,444.00 | Banking and capital markets |
27 | Wilh. Werhahn KG | Werhahn and Goder | 1841 | Private | Germany | 70.80 | 4062.55 | 9931.00 | Manufacturing and industrial products |
28 | C&A Group (aka Cofra Holding) | Brenninkmeijer | 1841 | Private | Switzerland | 100.00 | 6836.58 | 60,000.00 | Diversified industries |
29 | Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. | Taplin, Butler, Rankin | 1844 | Public | United States | 64.00 | 2885.20 | 6800.00 | Manufacturing and industrial products |
30 | Laing O’Rourke Corp. Ltd | O’Rourke and Dempsey | 1848 | Private | United Kingdom | 100.00 | 3674.96 | 15,273.00 | Real estate, hospitality, and construction |
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Ramadani, V., Memili, E., Palalić, R., Chang, E.P.C. (2020). Nature of Family Business. In: Entrepreneurial Family Businesses. Springer Texts in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47778-3_1
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