Bond University has been invited to take part in a global research project focussing on family owned and operated enterprises from around the world.
The Asia/Pacific division of the STEP Project for Family Enterprising (Successful Transgenerational Entrepreneurship Practices) was launched in Hong Kong last month by Babson College, the world’s top-ranked business school for Entrepreneurship.
As one of only 11 universities from the Asia-Pacific region invited to participate in the program, Bond was represented at the three-day launch by Dr Justin Craig, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Business.
“Bond University has been asked to join this elite consortium primarily because of the pioneering research we have instigated through the Australian Centre for Family Business, which is based on campus as part of our Bond Business School, Technology and Sustainable Development,” said Dr Craig.
“Established by Professor Ken Moores in 1994, it is the only Australian research institute of its kind that is exclusively focussed on the needs and challenges of running a family business.
“Over the years, the Australian Centre for Family Business has established an international reputation for the research our team has conducted into a wide range of issues, including business and family governance, professionalisation and strategic processes as they specifically relate to family-owned corporations.”
The STEP Project aims to build on that foundation by bringing together business families and academics to learn from each other.
The international research team will be examining how families continue to grow and create wealth across many generations, in an effort to generate knowledge and solutions that have immediate impact and personal application to business families.
“The family business sector is much larger and more dynamic than most people realise,” said Dr Craig.
“Recent studies have shown that families control between 60% and 90% of businesses in nearly every nation, contributing more than 70% of private enterprise employment. As such, they have a dominant impact on business worldwide and most likely serve as the largest single source of start-up capital.
“Even more significantly, recent research conducted here at the Australian Centre for Family Business shows that they outperform their publicly owned counterparts with higher returns on investment, better profit margins, more stable earnings and better cash flow and earnings per employee.
“Working with academics from leading universities in Hong Kong/China, Taiwan, Singapore, Korea, Japan and India, the STEP Project offers a unique opportunity to develop a clearer understanding of how these enterprises manage transgenerational issues to continually create new economic activity over time,” he said.