A research paper focusing on family business challenges co-authored by College of Business PhD candidate Pankaj Patel will receive two awards at the 2008 Southern Management Association Conference, including one of the SMA’s highest honors.
     The paper—Family Firm Commitment and Performance: A Moderated Mediation Analysis—has been judged Best Doctoral Student Paper and Best Paper Overall by the SMA, the largest and most prestigious conference in the southern U.S.

     “We’re especially proud of their accomplishment,” said Program Chair and VCU Management Professor Margaret Williams.  “The quality of papers submitted this year was very high.”
     Patel’s research targeted the challenges family businesses face because they operate with fewer formal rules than conventional businesses, and the act of formalization—with its increased controls and efficiency—can often suggest mistrust among family members.
     “The fact is that formalization may not be valuable, despite its traditional benefits,” said Patel. “The factor that help mitigates these issues is the 'firm identification,' which is essentially the degree to which family members see family different from the firm. Or, the extent to which the values of family, the individual and the firm are less distinct.”
     According to the paper, the greater the level of firm identification, the better family members can see the reason for formalization. This may have a further reinforcing effect where the family firms may gain better performance from identification, because once family members realize the benefits of formalization, they will pursue it more diligently than typical employees.
     Co-authors of the paper with Patel are Franz W. Kellermanns, Mississippi State University, and Kimberly Eddleston, Northeastern University.
     The awards will be presented October 30 at the conference in St. Pete Beach, Florida.

(posted 10-8-08)