CeFEO Thesis Award winners 2020 on Family Business and Ownership

The Centre for Family Entrepreneurship and Ownership is proud to announce the winners of the JIBS/CeFEO Thesis Award on Family Business and Ownership.

The award is given to students who, through their genuine interest, hard work and commitment, have written, presented and successfully defended a Bachelor or Master Thesis in JIBS’ profile area with a focus on Family Business or Ownership in 2020.

JIBS/CeFEO Best Thesis Award on Family Business and Ownership

Thesis: “The Function of Financial Reporting in Family Firms”

Authors: Veronika Gillberg and Matilda Rolfsson (in the photo)

Supervisor: Annika Yström

Prize: 10 000 sek

The study explores financial reporting in family firms. The authors interviewed 11 CEO and CFO of small-and-medium-sized family firms in Sweden. The thesis shows that that family SMEs with an high ownership concentration use financial reporting as a communication tool to external stakeholders to demonstrate financial stability and trustworthy accounts as well as to protect the firms’ reputation and image that are connected with a socio-emotional wealth of the family.

Read it here: http://cefeo.org/fbta20201

Honorable mention

Thesis: “How family influence impact dynamic capabilities for service innovation”

Authors: Martina Edberg and Amanda Hammarström

Supervisor: Tommaso Minola

Prize: 5 000 sek

The study explores how the involvement of the family in the business influences the way a family firm engages in service innovation. The authors interviewed 11 family and non-family members of a Swedish family firm operating in the hospitality industry, producing an in-depth single-case study. The study identifies five attributes of family influence and recognizes a positive impact of family involvement on the dynamic sensing capabilities for service innovation.

Read it here: http://cefeo.org/fbta20202

The decision was made by the award committee formed by Massimo Baù (CeFEO Director), Timur Uman (President of the Jury), Sara Fitz-Koch, and Anup Banerjee.

A big thanks to all the contributors to the competition and congratulations to the awarded authors and their supervisors!