Status conflict in family firms: a multilevel conceptual model

The purpose of this study is to integrate status conflict, as a relatively recent and unexplored phenomenon, to the family business literature.

The authors follow multilevel theory building to develop a multilevel conceptual model of status conflict in family firms (FFs).

The authors identify the main antecedents, processes and consequences of status conflict at three levels of analysis (individual, family and firm) unique to FFs. Seventeen theoretical propositions at three levels of analysis are presented.

The authors address the need for multilevel research for organisations and multilevel status research, contribute to the under-researched theory of conflicts in FFs and show that the conflict literature, which has predominantly focussed on the individual- and group-level factors, can borrow from the family business literature, which has primarily been oriented to the group- and firm-level factors.