Creating a learning organization within the family business: an Irish perspective

Citation

(2006), "Creating a learning organization within the family business: an Irish perspective", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 14 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/hrmid.2006.04414bad.002

Creating a learning organization within the family business: an Irish perspective

Creating a learning organization within the family business: an Irish perspective

Birdthistle N., Fleming P. Journal of European Industrial Training (UK), 2005 Vol 29 No 9, Start page: 730 (21 pages)

Purpose – to investigate how a learning organization can be created within the framework of the family small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) in Ireland. Design/ methodology/approach – no comprehensive list of independent family businesses in Ireland was available. To overcome this problem a pragmatic approach was taken in the construction of a sampling frame for this research. Primary data from a stratified random sample of independent unquoted businesses were collected. Data were collected from 121 family SMEs using a postal questionnaire. Findings – the results indicate that micro, small and medium-sized family firms display some of the characteristics of a learning organization, but not all of them. Therefore, with strategic review, systems development and cultural change within family SMEs in Ireland, they have the potential to be learning organizations. Research limitations/implications – this study used a single-respondent, self-administered questionnaire. Future research should incorporate analyzing other members of the family business – family and non-family members – so as to get a “wider” understanding of the family SME. Practical implications – A major contribution of this research is the identification of an existing and suitable theoretical background that can be applied to the study of the family SME, thereby providing a frame-of-reference for the analysis of family SMEs as learning organizations. Originality/value – presents original findings in a highly relevant, but under-researched field - the family SME as a learning organization.Style: Research paper

Keywords: Family firms, Learning organizations, Republic of Ireland, Small to medium-sized enterprises