FAMILY OWNERSHIP AS A FACTOR INFLUENCING THE CHOICE OF GOALS OF FAMILY BUSINESSES

Family businesses are enterprises characterized by a specific, broad set of goals of family and business nature, which can be in conflict with each other. The purpose of this article is to examine the impact of selected ownership-related factors on the process of setting the goals of family businesses, and more specifically, on the choice between alternative family and business goals. The data necessary for the analysis was collected through surveys of 300 family businesses managers. The hypotheses were verified using the non-parametric chi-square test. The analyses carried out showed that, of the determinants studied, the family's share in the ownership of the business (whether family members are the only owners or whether there is a non-family partner in the company) is the greatest importance, while the number of family owners (one vs. at least two) does not significantly affect the choice between goals. This article makes an important contribution to research on family business, as it shows the role of family ownership factors in the process of choosing between alternative family and business goals. Such an approach is not very popular in the literature on the subject, but it is a valuable addition to existing approaches.