Conflict Management in the Family Business

Abstract

Conflicts in family businesses can have devastating effects if they cannot be turned into functional conflicts and managed effectively. Institutionalization is the most effective solution in this process. Managing conflicts in family businesses where business and family relationships are bound by certain rules to get easier. However, conflicts can be managed effectively with methods such as; producing solutions before a conflict arises, effective communication between family members and non-family member employees before and during the conflict, separation of work and family from each other, prevention of nepotism, successful and effective planning, fair and performance-based reward system, determining the roles precisely and bringing them to a written form, receiving support from experienced non-family member employees, and bringing professional managers to work. This chapter addresses the Sabansi Holding case study, a well-known and influential business family in Turkey.