The interface of the organization and its industry constitutes a vital space for development. Conducting a systematic literature review, we confirm that management research has paid rather little attention to exploring the relationship between the industry context and family business management to date (see also Le Breton Miller & Miller, 2015). Despite this lack of research, many scholars and practitioners alike could name numerous family businesses that hold world class in their niches. Given the pace of environmental changes, there is a clear need to better understand the interface of family business and industry over time. Building on our findings from a longitudinal, in-depth case study of a 4th generation family business and its niche of high-quality Scandinavian Design furniture, we propose a multi-level model of co-evolution that comprises not only the micro- and macro-levels of family business and its industry, but also the meso-level of inter-actor cooperation in its market niche.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the case of divorce in family business from a legal perspective and highlight the problems of applying family law in the family business context.

Design/methodology/approach – The authors rely on legal analysis and interviews with estate distribution executors to discuss problems with the legal rules and how they are practiced.

Findings – The findings show that the law is ill fitted to the situation where there is a family business included in the division of marital property. In divorce, family law dictates the division of marital property and the family business is reduced to an asset to be divided like any other. Critical issues are identified and elaborated.

Research limitations/implications – Divorce and other disruptions to the family system should be considered in family business consultancy among other threats to the business. The legal perspective on divorce in the family business offered here primarily concerns ownership issues. The impact of divorce on management is equally in need of exploration, which is the suggestion for further studies.

Practical implications – The paper illuminates in which ways the business is hampered from divorcing owners and discuss critical issues with applying family law in a family business context. Social implications – Policymakers should establish rules in which shares in an unlisted business are by default assigned to separate property until something else is contracted.

Originality/value – New light is shed on the practical problems of interpreting family law in a family business context advancing the understanding of family aspects in family business management.

Family business are known to rely on informal ways of working. For several decades now, also scholars have challenged conventional planning-approaches to strategy. Wayfinding has been introduced as an alternative that takes social practice seriously and focuses on strategy-making from activities unfolding in the everyday. Drawing on socialization theory and a real-time case study in a family business, I elaborate upon three socialization processes significant to better understand strategy-making as wayfinding: Strategy as embedded in daily practice; renewal when family members manage together; and strategy-making as an ordinary part of family business life. This paper thereby contributes by applying wayfinding thinking empirically and by adding socialization theory for further understanding of the unintentional and indirect aspects of strategy-making. By exploring organizational life in the family business of Karl Andersson & Söner, it is illustrated how strategy and succession is ongoing and embedded in daily routines and unfolding without planning.

This article contributes to the family business succession literature by (1) addressing ownership succession rather than management succession, (2) recommending a combination of legal and psychological perspectives on ownership to advance our understanding and (3) suggesting a preparatory approach to succession. Measuring the success of management succession has mainly been undertaken by assessing outcomes. Learning retrospectively why a succession was (un)successful may deepen our understanding of the process, but it is not particularly helpful to the business in question. We propose an alternative method for ownership succession: a preparatory approach that establishes requirements to fulfill before the succession takes place. These requirements are presented in a model that considers both the legal/financial and the psychological aspects of ownership and are formulated to improve intergenerational ownership succession and the post-succession prosperity of the firm.