Abstract

In the development of any academic field that is grounded in human behavior such as that of family business, there are three stages of conceptual development (Danes, 2014). The first stage focuses on structure, roles, and rules within the focal group and effects of these structures, roles and rules on the group’s outcomes. Within the field of family business, the group being studied could be either the family or the business system. The second stage involves progressing from the investigation of structural concepts to a focus on processes. The third developmental stage is studying those processes over time. This longitudinal lens would bring an understanding of processes not only in times of stability but in times of change. The call then is for the family business field to progress deeper into the second and third stages of its conceptual development in order to refine its behavioral foundations. This chapter’s focus is a discussion of conceptual and methodological issues around family processes supported by examples of recently published research by chapter authors that illustrate points being made.