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Family entrepreneurial teams: a vehicle for portfolio entrepreneurship

Research output: Working paper

Published
Publication date2010
Place of PublicationLancaster University
PublisherInstitute for Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Publication series

NameEntrepreneurship and Enterprise Development Working Paper Series

Abstract

Guided by the resource based view and stewardship theory, this study explores how family members go about developing a portfolio of businesses. Collective approaches to portfolio entrepreneurship are examined in case studies of six family business groups in Honduras. Interviews with multiple respondents for each case are analysed using interpretive methods. Members of the 'family in business' approach the opportunity stages of the entrepreneurial process as an entrepreneurial team. Families in business seek and evaluate opportunities to match the interests and aptitudes of members of the family entrepreneurial team. The entrepreneurial team for each opportunity is formed from a closed group of family members who are committed to being in business together in the long term. The family entrepreneurial team have a collectivist approach to opportunities and resources. The importance of examining entrepreneurship and family businesses in alternative contexts, such as Latin America, is argued. The implications highlight the relevance of the family in business as a unit of analysis for researchers, practitioners and policy makers.