The impact of family forms on interpersonal influence between single parent and full families

The relationship between individual thoughts and the social environment has been widely studied in sociology (Weber, 1968), psychology (Lewin, 1951) and social psychology. The influence of reference groups on individual behaviour is often manifested in the decisions made by consumers while members of these reference groups are often the individual’s friends and acquaintances. Their decisions, their values and norms serve as an example for the individual. In this study the influences of reference groups are examined within the context of the family form in Hungary. The paper focuses on the nature of peer influence in single parent households and full families, to analyse the normative and informational dimensions of peer pressure and communication patterns within the family.

Succession in the Family Business: Need to Transfer the ‘Socio-Emotional Wealth’ (SEW)

Rather often we have to confront with the pessimistic views on the future of the family business. Contrary to these prognosis, the FB is not only present but also improving its position in the global economy and playing a key role in the European economy too. They represent 60 % of employment and more than 60 million jobs in the private sector. Among many internal challenges of FB in the five years’ time, the importance of the ‘company succession’ is increasing together with the renewing technology and ‘attracting the right sills/ talents’ (Global Family Survey, 2015). This article is focusing on the transfer of socio-economic wealth (SEW) as a key intangible asset within the intergenerational changes in the FB. The paper outlines the various concepts (narrow vs. broad) of the SEW and special attention is paid to the risk prone [taken] and risk adverse entrepreneurial attitudes. In this relation, the authors made distinction between the ‘opportunity’ and ‘necessity entrepreneurs’. Using empirical experiences based on multi-site company case studies in the three INSIST project countries, the various sub-sections are focusing on the transfer of the following key components of the SEW to the next generation: trust-based social-system, generic human values (i.e. openness, mutual respect, correctness, reliability, responsibility etc.) and ‘practice based – embedded collective knowledge’. Key lesson of this analysis is the following: transferring physical assets in the succession process seems to us less important than the transfer of the intangible one embedded in the company’s culture community. Further systematic national and international investigations – combining quantitative and qualitative research tools – are necessary to acquire more accurate picture on the impacts of transferring both intangible and tangible assets in the succession process in the FB.