Are Family firms a fertile ground for constructive conflict management? A conceptual review

This article reviews the relevance of constructive conflict management theory to explain the performance of family business. We discuss the existent knowledge regarding how family firms manage their conflicts through an open-minded dialogue, and how this dialogue is based on their mutual benefit relationships to all parts involved and achieving better solutions and performance. Scientific evidence shows that trust, altruism, and diversity of goals can facilitate a constructive conflict approach. Nepotism, unfairness perception, and conflicting socioemotional wealth orientations may hamper the process. We argue that constructive conflict management is a core process to sustainability of family firms. Constructive conflict management opens new avenues to bridging the gap between family business and conflict management.