Differences in the crisis readiness of family and non-family businesses – does a supervisory board matter?

Abstract

Previous research suggests that, ceteris paribus, organizations that are ready to cope with crisis should be better able to manage it than unprepared organiza-tions. This study investigates the differences in crisis readiness between family and non-family businesses both with and without supervisory boards. Applying MAN(C)OVA to a sample of 218 German companies, I find that family busi-nesses show a lower degree of crisis readiness than non-family businesses. At the same time, my results suggest that supervisory boards lead to higher degrees of crisis readiness. Interestingly, the positive influence of supervisory boards seems to occur only in family businesses