Family Versus Non Family Firms in the Luxury Yachts Sector: Strategy – Structure Combination to Manage the Performance

Abstract

The main goal of this study is to analyze the impact of strategy-structure combination on performance, adding a new variable: the family. The research considers the well-known strong link between strategy and structure to demonstrate that a correct combi-nation of these two variables has a positive impact on performance. In addition to the strategy and structure variables there is another variable which has a relevant impact on performance, the family, and this study is conducted both in family and non family firms to understand where the most value is created. Consequently this research fo-cuses its attention on two variables that influence the performance: the strategy-structure combination and the family. This research wants to study the strategy-structure combination and the relationship with the performance adding the family like a new variable, because this topic is less treaty in the literature. Dyer (2003, p. 401) confirms this assertion, in fact he refers to the family as “the missing variable in organizational research” and he warns that “failing to use the family as a variable in organizational research can lead to incomplete or misleading findings” (Speckbaker G., Wentges P. 2007). Based on this statement, I conduct this study comparing family and non family firms in the relationships strategy – structure and the impact on per-formance, because in the organizational and strategic management researches the family is a relevant variable, sometimes forgotten. Although the number of papers on family firms has recently increased, it is unaware of any published research on the influence of family or non family ownership on strategy – structure combination and the impact on performance.