Two leading scholars from Bond University’s Australian Centre for Family Business (ACFB) will present at the 9th annual International Family Enterprise Research Academy (IFERA) conference to be held in Cyprus later this month.
Professor Ken Moores and Dr Justin Craig, co-directors of the ACFB, will present their research on championing family business issues to influence public policy during the Global Forum on Family Business Policy – a major component of IFERA conference this year. They will be presenting alongside other internationally-acclaimed researchers and presenters from the world’s leading academic institutions, including Harvard and London Business Schools.
The research makes a number of propositions as to how issue champions can most effectively influence public policy, based on the life-cycle of a political issue and the salience of stakeholders in terms of three attributes: power, legitimacy and urgency.
In developing such propositions, the paper draws upon Australian examples of family business advocacy, a role which the ACFB and its associated networks actively engage in.
Specifically, the paper discusses the addition of family business questions to Australia’s Business Longitudinal Study, undertaken nationally by the Australian Bureau of Statistics; Family Business Australia’s recent and successful submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services; and the inclusion of family business issues in the Federal Opposition’s Small Business Action Plan developed by local member and Shadow Minister for Small Business, Steven Ciobo.
Professor Ken Moores, who founded the Australian Centre for Family Business in 1994, said he hoped the research would play a significant role in assisting the family business sector to gain the attention of policy makers not only in Australia, but right around the world.
“The family business rubric permeates, and contributes stoically to, the economic and social well-being of every society, making up approximately 80% of all business globally. Policy makers need to understand the scale of this social and economic contribution and respond appropriately to the unique challenges faced by family businesses,” Professor Moores said.
Other participants in the policy-centred forum include Dr Davide Sola, the director of ESCP Europe’s London campus; Professor Michael Luger, director of Manchester Business School; Dr Rainer Geiger, OECD Deputy Director of Enterprise and Financial Affairs and the European Commission’s director-general of enterprise and industry, Jorge Bastino.
Dr Justin Craig said participation in the IFERA conference and engagement with academic, industry and government representatives at this level confirmed the ACFB’s position as one of the world’s leading family business research institutions.
“The ACFB has not only demonstrated its presence in the global family business community, but the fact we are using Australian best practice to lead the world’s development and understanding of these unique businesses,” he said.
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