Mary Barrett and Ken Moores breathe new life into research on one of the largest and yet frequently overlooked business sectors. They analyse thirteen international cases of women in family business to discover how women attained leadership or, sometimes, failed to do so. By examining in detail how women have reached the top in the traditionally conservative environment of family business, the book avoids essentialist assumptions about women as leaders. It illuminates classic issues of entrepreneurship in a family business context, particularly the dual imperatives of innovation and business continuity. Women in Family Business Leadership Roles presents contemporary research that looks at the patterns of success and failure, and understand whether this is the result of gender or other factors. This invigorating book will be an important resource in helping women and their families understand the dynamics of their family business. The authors' passion for the subject will enhance understanding of family firms as well as the changing position of women in family enterprises. Family business owners and managers, as well as students and academics on entrepreneurship, family business and management courses will warmly welcome the book.

Based on insights from executives across the globe, this planning guide captures the unique challenges faced by leaders of a family business and presents an approach to help these operations survive and thrive across generations. Leading a company is a much different experience for those in a family-run business than for their contemporaries in nonfamilial environments. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the skill set and mindset required to lead family enterprises, and it introduces the four critical areas in which family businesses differ from traditional companies-management structures, governance mechanisms, entrepreneurial advantages, and stewardship practices. In a fascinating convergence of entrepreneurship, family relations, and corporate principles, the authors present two frameworks to better understand the best practices of leading a family business: a firm-level frame focused on these four critical areas of difference (architecture, governance, entrepreneurship, and stewardship) and an individual one that mirrors these in terms of the skill set and mindset successful leaders need to develop. Craig and Moores consider the differences between leadership in family enterprises and non-family enterprises; the entrepreneurial capabilities needed by executives in family-based firms; and the use of power, identification, and motivation in managing their responsibilities both at home and in the workplace. Case studies provide a real-life look at the inner workings of family operations across the globe. Includes insights from leaders of family businesses from all over the world Describes important characteristics for leading family and business systems successfully Features case vignettes showcasing the complex inner workings of family and business stewardship Compares the homogeneity evident in non-family enterprises versus the heterogeneity of family enterprises Discusses the differences between leadership in family enterprises and non-family enterprises