Family business research is needed to deepen the understanding of family firms and their role in the broader organizational landscape. This type of research is receiving attention from scholars across the globe, providing an increasing body of knowledge that still has many unanswered questions.
To support this research, Florida State University’s Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship hosted the 19th annual Theories of Family Enterprise (TOFE) Conference at the FSU Florence Study Center last month.
The premier annual conference, which took place April 3-5, is a limited attendance gathering dedicated to advancing family business scholarship by fostering theoretical development and empirical research. It provides a collaborative environment where researchers can deepen their understanding of family firms and their role in the broader organization landscape.
“It was an honor to take part in the 19th Annual Theories of Families Conference and celebrate the impact of family enterprises,” said Susan Fiorito, dean of the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship. “At the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship, we’re proud to support research and education that help these businesses thrive. Jim Moran believed in the power of family business to create lasting change, and his legacy continues through our work and the Jim Moran Foundation. We were delighted to host such an inspiring group of scholars at the FSU Florence Study Center.”
The 19th annual TOFE Conference marked the first time that the event had taken place outside of the U.S. since its inception almost 20 years ago.
“Everybody was very excited about the synergies of doing the conference in Italy, where there’s such a culture of family business,” said Eric Liguori, Jim Moran Professor and associate dean of the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship.
The conference brought together leading scholars from disciplines like strategic management, organizational behavior, entrepreneurship, finance, and economics to explore interdisciplinary perspectives on family enterprise. Attendees were selected based on paper proposals evaluated through a peer-review process. About 25 researchers attended in total.
“If you look at where job growth and new jobs are being created, it’s in the small business sector and disproportionately with family firms,” Liguori said. “The Jim Moran Institute is really looking at how do we support more of these growth-oriented firms and events like this align really well with the research component of JMI’s mission.”
The Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship (JMI), housed in the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship, was founded in 1995 to cultivate, train and inspire entrepreneurial leaders through world-class executive education, applied training, public recognition and leading-edge research.
“When we look back over the data for the types of companies that JMI has served, a disproportionate number of them are family firms in Florida,” Liguori said. “And so, if you think about just our local and state economies, the companies JMI works so hard to support are powerful economic engines at the local and state levels.”
The event was held in partnership with “Family Business Review”, a scholarly publication devoted exclusively to exploration of the dynamics of family-controlled enterprises, including firms ranging in size from the very large to the relatively small. It was organized in tandem with International Programs colleagues, both in Tallahassee and at the FSU Florence Study Center.
In addition to FSU Florence, Florida State University, through International Programs, owns and operates study centers in London, Valencia, and Panama City, Republic of Panama, which is a full branch campus. They also offer faculty-led programs in over 20 locations, and their office is a designated Passport Acceptance Facility where students, faculty, staff and members of the community can apply for a U.S. passport book and/or card.
“We are so pleased to have collaborated with colleagues in the Jim Moran College to host this conference,” said Louisa Blenman, interim director of International Programs. “We couldn’t have asked for better partners for this pilot project. As we explore ways to leverage our study centers and the Panama Branch Campus to serve different areas of the university, we are working to identify parameters and timeframes during which we can utilize our facilities to support faculty research, scholarship and creative endeavors. Of course, we will remain true to our core mission of providing transformative education abroad experience for FSU students, but we are confident there are creative ways we can add arrows to our quiver.”
Ligouri said hosting the event at the study center was an efficient use of space but noted the timing was also deliberately chosen so it didn’t impact any student programming. While the conference took place, students currently studying at the FSU Florence Study Center were out of town on a weekend excursion.
“It’d probably be hard to do a 150-person event, but for smaller symposium-type events, it was a really great way to work with International Programs and have them support the research side of FSU’s mission,” Ligouri said. “It was also a powerful way for many researchers from around the globe to learn about FSU, experience FSU, and to walk away with a positive view of FSU. There’s lots of reasons why we all benefit from FSU’s reach continuing to expand.”
To close out the conference on April 5, an awards ceremony was held at the Palazzo Borghese Via Ghibellina.
The James J. Chrisman Contribution to Theory Award was presented to Kristen Madison, professor of entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University; Kimberly Eddleston, Schulze Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Northeastern University; and Roland Kidwell, DeSantis Distinguished Professor of Management/Entrepreneurship at Florida Atlantic University. Sponsored by Mississippi State University, the award is named in honor of Dr. James J. Chrisman — a co-founder of the TOFE and a leading scholar in family business research — and recognizes the papers that provided the most significant theoretical contribution to the field.
The Daniel T. Holt Best Paper Award was presented to Andrew Fultz, assistant professor at the University of Texas El Paso, and Keith Hmieleski, professor of entrepreneurship at Texas Christian University. Sponsored by the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship, the award is named in the memory of Dr. Daniel T. Holt — a prolific researcher whose work spanned entrepreneurship, family business and organizational change — and is given to the best overall paper presented at the TOFE conference.
The Conference Committee included Eric Liguori (Florida State University), James Vardaman (University of Memphis), Ben McLarty (Louisiana Tech University), Jessica Vattima (Rowan University) and Laura Marler (Mississippi State University).
To learn more about the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship, visit jimmorancollege.fsu.edu. For more information about the TOFE Conference, visit jimmorancollege.fsu.edu/research/theories-family-enterprise-conference. For more information about International Programs, visit international.fsu.edu.