Arthur Andersen/Mass Mutual American Family Business Survey 1995 and 1997

The American Family Business Survey is described and evaluated.Launched in 1995 by the Loyola University Chicago Family Business Center and the Family Enterprise Center at Kennesaw State University (in cooperation with the Arthur Andersen Center for Family Business and MassMutual), this national study of family-owned business included information from roughly 4,000 businesses with more than $1 million in revenues and that were at least ten years old.Major areas of research included the roles of women in family-owned businesses, non-family employee issues, and investment management approaches. The survey data indicated, among other things, that nearly half of family-owned firms do not have a strategic plan for the future in place and that business and family matters are often difficult to separate during formal business meetings.A 1997 follow-up survey revealed similar trends.While the American Family Business Survey has its limitations in that the definition of a family business remains open to debate, the national scope and empirical validity of the dataset will allow researchers to explore numerous hypotheses and predictions about the nature of family-owned businesses in the United States. (SAA)