Change and adaptation in family firms

The current situation of accelerated environmental, technological and social dynamism is placing extraordinary demands on organizational decision makers and has made adaptation a primary mechanism for survival and a main purpose of strategic management. Internal factors, and in particular the family nature of the firm, are central for our understanding of how firms change and adapt. When the family is the dominant coalition in the firm, singular characteristics arise that have complex effects on firms' behavior and strategic choices. Therefore, we propose to consider family firms' uniqueness when researching change and adaptation processes.