Winners of the 2014 JIBS/CeFEO Family Business Thesis Award

A jury consisting of professors from CeFEO have evaluated and awarded Bachelor and Master theses.

All theses are on family business topics and were written by JIBS students during autumn 2013 and spring 2014.

Here are the winners:

Best bachelor thesis– prize: 10 000 SEK

Family capital influence on the internationalization of family firms

– A multiple case study of Swedish Family Firms

Authors: Xin Liu, Modestas Musteikis, & David-Robert Schröder
Tutor: Imran Nazir
Motivation: The thesis deals with a relevant topic for family business research. The author discuss the influence of the family toward the internationalization of the company in terms of human, social and financial capital. The contribution well written and provides interesting insights that support existing theories.

Best qualitative master thesis – prize: 10 000 SEK

The Family Business Brand – Exploring Consumer Brand

Associations

Authors: Henok Hayle & Sanna Persson
Tutor: Tomas Müllern
Motivation: The students propose a deep case study focused on the brand identity of family firms, suggesting the existence of a family firms’ reputational capital. The thesis deals with a topic that has received little attention and has not only theoretical relevance but is also important for practice. The contribution is solid an well written. Important insights are supported by theories and a valid use of quotation.

Best quantitative master thesis– prize: 10 000 SEK

Performance of Swedish listed family-firms

Author: Andreas Rasku
Tutor: Agostino Manduchi
Motivation: The thesis is solid and well written, and presents a valid statistical analysis. The author addresses an important topic in the family business literature demonstrating that founding-family firms over-perform non-family firms in the Swedish listed market, recognizing the importance of the founder CEO’s knowledge.

Honurable mention – prize: 5 000 SEK

Succession intentions in ethnic family businesses with emphasis

on transfer of tacit knowledge and social capital

Authors: Petra Vretenar & Soukaina Lamrani
Tutor: Mattias Nordqvist
Motivation: The thesis addresses an interesting and rather new topic subject of relevance for family firms succession. It is well written and favour a better understanding of ethnic minority family businesses. The study shows that ethnic minority entrepreneurs in Sweden do not want to pass on their business to next generation and the perceived no involvement of the ethnic community in any aspect of the business. The findings encourage future researches on the topic.

These awards have been made possible through a donation from Henry and Sylvia Toft Foundation, with the purpose of supporting the development and dissemination of knowledge of family owned firms.

Congratulations to the Authors and the Tutors!