The salience of market, bureaucratic, and clan controls in the management of family firm transitions: some tentative Australian evidence

Abstract

Despite the numerical and economic significance of family businesses to Australia, they are not extensively researched. This paper reports some of the results from a nationwide study of Australian family-owned businesses that sought to ascertain and understand their management and control practices. In particular, the paper assesses the organizational transitions of Australian family firms in terms of their dominant control practices. These control measures are evaluated according to Ouchi's classification of market, bureaucratic, and clan controls. The salience of these different forms of control serves to identify distinctive patterns that define periods of organizational passage (life cycles).