Conflicts and Negotiations in the Intergenerational Succession of Family Firms: A Literature Review.

Abstract

This chapter intends to stimulate a serious debate on the topic of conflict in family businesses and the theory of negotiation as a tool to resolve these conflicts. The methodology is based on the survey of the main literature on these topics. Although both literatures on conflict management and family business are highly developed, scholars and researchers have not yet deepened several areas of specific conflicts emerging in family businesses. Thus, the two filed are not yet fully integrated, showing a potential for future research avenues. We then propose a research agenda identifying the issues and research gaps that should be explored by researchers to reach a deeper understanding on conflict resolution in family businesses.