The ultimate aim of family business research is the production of new actionable knowledge, that is rigorous, empirically verified recommendations that fit family business needs and benefit their business practice. Oftentimes, however, research efforts fall short in meeting this goal, leaving family business owners and managers with limited guidance other than anecdotal evidence, best practices, and other forms of “conventional” or “folk” wisdom. We address this theory-practice divide in family business research using the example of shareholder agreements. We present a theoretical analysis of the characteristics, antecedents and effects of shareholder agreements on family business outcomes using the concept of family-practice fit, suggesting that characteristics of the owning family, which are expressions of family heterogeneity, should be aligned with the practices used to manage the family, and its intersection with the business in order to facilitate goal attainment. In focusing on the family as a unit of analysis, our conceptualization follows the calls for a more nuanced understanding of the family behind the firm, providing a foundation upon which future research on shareholder agreements and other widespread family business practices can build.

家族企业研究的最终目的是产生可付诸实践的新知识，这些知识是经过严格的，经过实验验证的，适合家族企业需求并有益于其商业实践的建议。但是，通常情况下，研究工作未能达到这一目标，给家族企业的所有者和管理人员以有限的指导，除了传闻证据，最佳实践和其他形式的“传统”或“民间”智慧。我们以股东协议为例，解决了家族企业研究中的这种理论与实践的分歧。我们使用家庭实践契合概念对股东协议的特征，前因和对家族企业成果的影响进行理论分析，建议拥有家庭的特征，即家庭异质性的表达，应与用于管理家庭的惯例及其与企业的交汇处保持一致，以促进目标的实现。在将家庭作为分析单位进行关注时，我们的概念化要求对公司背后的家庭有更细微的了解，从而为将来可以进行有关股东协议和其他广泛的家族企业实践的研究奠定基础。