WEBINAR: G Tyge Payne: Social Capital and Family Entrepeneurship

One of the core questions that is being asked by family business leaders in today’s fast-paced and uncertain environment is: How do we develop and sustain entrepreneurial thinking and behaviors over time? While not unique to family businesses, the involvement of the family in business decisions and actions does create unique differences that should be considered when addressing entrepreneurial proclivities such as creativity, innovativeness, and proactiveness. This presentation is geared towards better understanding this issue of family entrepreneurship—the starting, growing, changing, and transforming of businesses involving family collectives—by examining it through the lens of social capital.  Social capital is important—arguably, fundamental—to understanding both entrepreneurship and family-controlled enterprises, thus making it essential for understanding the challenges presented by our primary question about developing and sustaining entrepreneurship.  Specifically, we will discuss how social networks can be utilized to develop and sustain entrepreneurship in family businesses by providing conduits for social capital in the form of information, knowledge, financial capital, and other resources. Practical examples are given that may help families and family business leaders foster an environment that builds and supports the pursuit of opportunities. These will also be used to highlight research opportunities in the field.