The film refers to the family business owned by Calvin, who has a wife and a baby son. It survives with six employees with different relationships with each other. They face both personal and workplace problems during the film. The operation and management of the barbershop fit the definition of a FOB, managed by a nuclear family. This FOB has an overarching vision that may span across later generations for the benefits to be gained by the family.

Family Business Project Task

a) Identify a suitable family firm, and, making a study of its people, exploring especially the dynamics between family members, as well as stewardship and agency approaches over time within this firm. How do the people in this firm work together, or come into conflict, across generations, to build the family and the business?

b) Identify a place, and explore how family firms have shaped and sustained this context through time. How has the place in turn shaped the business and the family? What are the implications of your analysis for the future of this place, and any family firms currently embedded there? What advice would you give a local policymaker?

c) Identify a movie or classic novel in which there is a family business interface. Review its family-business storyline, critique its contents and relate it to readings in this course. Be sure to apply critical theoretical reasoning. For this essay, you need to gain my approval for your choice of work in advance.

Discussion

This essay uses the Three-Circle model (Family, Business and Management circles) to:

(a) provide information about the family business environment.

(b)Graphically illustrate the role of each character in the family business.

Calvin is placed at the center where the three circles overlap, as he is the owner, part of the family, and manager. All six employees are in the management circle. The son’s place is in the ownership and family circles (as the heir of the barbershop). The wife is in the family circle only and Kennard, Calvin’s cousin, is in both the family and management circles.

Operation

Eddie, one of the six employees and the oldest one working in the business. He is also close to Kennard. Furthermore, he is an old family friend who operates in the family business as a member. This can is evident from several incidents in the film. Some of which were (a) the rent exclusivity factor, where both Calvin’s father and Calvin did not receive rent from Eddie. (b) Eddie’s unconditional support to Calvin’s father and Calvin when they were facing critical problems with the barbershop. Therefore, the connections between the family and the business and the roles each member plays can be easy to point using the Three-Circle model.

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