BOK COMMENTARY
Family Business Goals in the Tourism and
Hospitality Sector: Case Studies and Cross-
Case Analysis from Australia, Canada, and
Sweden by Tommy Andersson, Jack Carlsen,
Donald Getz
Commentary by Nancy M. Levenburg
In terms of percentages, family-owned businesses
figure prominently within the tourism and hos-
pitality sector, particularly in rural geographic
areas. Despite this prevalence, little is known
about the unique issues and challenges they face,
as they operate businesses that range from camp-
site and cabin rentals to charter fishing excur-
sions to tour guide services. Tommy Andersson,
Jack Carlsen, and Donald Getz provide a fasci-
nating glimpse into these firms’ start-up goals,
business development philosophies, and pros-
pects for preservation through a cross-case analy-
sis of nine firms in Sweden, Australia, and
Canada. Despite cultural differences, these busi-
nesses exhibit remarkable similarities. The ar-
ticle offers observations and insights useful to
educators, consultants, professional advisers, and
members of family businesses.
Using the business and family life-cycle theo-
retical framework, the authors find that the
founders of these small, rural firms are primarily
motivated by lifestyle and location considerations.
They aspire to become or remain “tied to the
land,” which serves as a powerful motivator, es-
pecially if inherited property is involved. Seek-
ing a certain lifestyle and leisure activities and
desiring to be self-employed and operate inde-
pendently, the business becomes a means to an
end: a source of revenue to supplement farm in-
come or generate money for retirement, or to
plan and maintain a family legacy — in their lo-
FAMILY BUSINESS REVIEW, vol. XV, no. 2, June 2002 © Family Firm Institute, Inc.
cation of choice.
These small, rural firms pursue conservative
growth strategies that are often grounded in fam-
ily-related considerations, such as hiring staff to
free up time to spend with the family. They seek
to pursue controlled (and solvent) growth, re-
specting the natural resource base while avoid-
ing burdensome debt.
Given that these company founders are
highly motivated in following their dreams, it
may seem surprising that five of the nine firms
in this study report being uncertain about the
future of their businesses and only two express
inheritance plans. According to the authors, rel-
evant factors influencing continuation of the firm
into subsequent generations include the impor-
tance of an enduring family legacy, viability of
the business, attitudes and preferences of chil-
dren (if present), ties to the land, and gender.
But are there other important factors? In a
study of small Israeli tourism firms, Lerner and
Haber (2001) find that although an attractive
environment tends to produce higher revenues,
it does not assure profitability. Instead, manage-
rial skills provide the strongest association with
performance.
Unfortunately, the current study offers no
information about the very important manage-
ment skills among these small, rural tourism
firms. It may be the case that in pursuing their
idyllic avocations, these businesses do not pos-
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Invited Commentary
sess the requisite managerial skills and abilities
to launch and run their businesses successfully.
What this may indicate is that having appropri-
ate skills and business training is equally as or
even more important to the long-term success
of the firm than having a dream.
From another perspective, Ozcan (1995), in
studying small business networking in Turkey,
suggests that family firms may be less innovative
and unable to make sound long-term managerial
decisions due to an over-reliance on obtaining in-
formation and guidance from a social network of
family and friends as opposed to a formal network
of bankers, business consultants, professional or-
ganizations, and others. In fact, Miller and
McLeod (2001) find low levels of usage of profes-
sional associations (e.g., Small Business Adminis-
tration, local Chamber of Commerce) in a study
conducted among family businesses in rural U.S.
communities. According to Copp and Ivy (2001),
networking trends among small tourism businesses
in Slovakia urban areas are substantially different
from those located in its rural areas. In particular,
those in rural areas indicate lower levels of aware-
ness and usage of small business associations —
an important source of information, counseling,
consulting, and training. Consequently, these
studies may suggest that founders of rural tour-
ism businesses may be insufficiently equipped to
handle business challenges and may encounter
additional obstacles in obtaining needed assistance
due to their remote locations. If so, it is not sur-
prising that the majority of firms profiled by
Andersson, Carlsen, and Getz express uncertainty
about the ultimate fate of their businesses. Fur-
ther investigation of this issue is necessary if we
are truly to understand family-owned firms in the
tourism industry.
Related to this, if rural family-owned firms
are expected to survive beyond the first genera-
tion (which appears rather infrequent based on
the cases profiled), it becomes critically impor-
tant for founders to transmit their “love of the
land” to offspring. The initiative demonstrated
in launching their businesses clearly demonstrates
a willingness to take risks and an entrepreneurial
spirit on the part of the founder.
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Unfortunately, the unique nature of many
tourism and hospitality businesses presents sev-
eral considerations that may dampen offspring’s
level of enthusiasm for continuing the business:
for example, seasonal demand, sharing the fam-
ily home, and intimate and frequent contact with
customers. As reported by Karofsky, Millen,
Yilmaz, Smyrnios, Tanewski, and Romano
(2001), personal satisfaction and business accom-
plishments are intertwined in a family business.
If business accomplishments are not realized for
the children as well as their parents, the children
may experience levels of dissatisfaction that drive
them from the business.
Cross-case analysis is a qualitative research
technique in which researchers examine data
(typically collected through interviews) to look
for common themes or trends. As a qualitative
research method, responses are not subject to the
same rigorous statistical analyses as quantitative
studies. However, their advantages are numer-
ous: In addition to being typically less expensive
to implement, substantial information can be ob-
tained from each respondent, and probing ques-
tions are common. On the down side, qualita-
tive research is held in disdain by some research-
ers (McDaniel & Gates 2002). One reason for
this is that respondents are not necessarily rep-
resentative of the population of interest.
Case analysis is often used as a first step in
developing pluralistic (quantitative and qualita-
tive) research studies. To truly make inferences
about the population, a quantitative study focused
on a more representative sample would be a logi-
cal next step, such as Westhead, Cowling, and
Howorth’s (2001) examination of independent
family and nonfamily businesses in the United
Kingdom. As an exploratory study, the present
article is a good beginning: There is good rea-
son to believe that the motives and goals of fam-
ily firms in the rural and tourism sector are some-
what different from other sectors and from
nonfamily businesses in general. Although the
sample size is small, the insights of this paper are
useful in shedding light on a unique subset of
family firms.
 Invited Commentary

References McDaniel, C., & Gates, R. (2002). Marketing Research

Copp, C. B., & Ivy, R. L. (2001, October). Network-
ing trends of small tourism businesses in post-so-
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Karofsky, P., Millen, R., Yilmaz, M. R., Smyrnios, K.
X., Tanewski, G. A., & Romano, C. A. (2001, De-
cember). Work-family conflict and emotional well-
being in American family businesses. Family Busi-
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Lerner, M., & Haber, S. (2001, January). Performance
factors of small tourism ventures: The interface of
tourism, entrepreneurship and the environment.
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Ozcan, G. (1995). Small business networks and local
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Nancy M. Levenburg is in the Seidman School Of Business, Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids, MI.
This commentary is a product of the Family Firm Institute’s Body of Knowledge committee.

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