Knowledge Management in Family Firms

Abstract

Knowledge management has received increasing attention from scholars. However, the understanding of this literature in the context of family firms remains fragmented. Different positions suggest that the inherent features of family businesses indicate the importance of considering the context. In this chapter, the authors aim to extend the understanding of knowledge management in the context of family firms. They achieve this by identifying the intellectual structure and evolution of the knowledge management corpus using bibliometric techniques applied to authors, universities, countries, and supranational regions. The analysis is complemented by the application of distance-based mapping techniques at the level of authors and publishers, enabling exploration of the historical dynamics and knowledge flows among management disciplines. The contribution of this chapter to the management literature lies in the provision of deep insights into this young and fertile stream of research, ultimately building bridges between both fields of research.