2. Theoretical Insights into the Nature, Diversity and Persistence of Business Groups

This chapter contributes to the existing research by providing an exhaustive theoretical overview of the family business group phenomenon. In this chapter, we present an overview of three parallel streams of literature which are relevant to the understanding of family business groups. These are the mainstream economic, management and organizational studies of large-scale corporate business groups; the small firm-orientated portfolio entrepreneurship literature; and the family business literature. While these theoretical treatments provide insights into the nature, diversity and persistence of business groups, it seems that none of them has focused on the emergence of business groups. Additionally, research seems to have neglected the question how family ownership changes the operation and complexity of business groups. This theoretical overview suggests that there is considerable scope for theory building in researching family business groups.