Governance Particularities of Romanian Family Business

Abstract

Family businesses in Romania are not distinctively treated, tracked, or researched neither at legal/administrative level nor in the academic or business-consulting arena, but rather included in the large category of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). Given the limited knowledge that exists regarding their particular way of functioning in Romania, this chapter aims to shed some light on the corporate governance dimensions of Romanian family businesses and identify the particularities of their decision-making process, succession perspective, and family communication. Who are the actors that play a role in the decision-making process of the family businesses in Romania? What is the prevalent criterion for granting participation to decision-making process? What are the levels of family involvement and how is the information sharing taking place? What are the prospects of succession? These are questions that will be answered during this research study. The chapter is based on primary data collected during a nation-wide study among SMEs in Romania and is exploratory in nature.