Relationship Conflicts in Changing Business Families in India and Germany

In the monograph „Relationship Conflicts in Changing Business Families in India and Germany – Origins, Fields, and Coping Strategies“ (2018), Janina Fee Schroeder examines relationship and interpersonal conflicts in business families against the backdrop of profound societal and cultural changes in India and Germany. Based on a systems theory approach, the author analyses how changes in familial communication patterns, role models, and power structures affect conflict dynamics in business families.

Central to the discussion are the comparative perspectives of two family systems shaped by different historical and cultural contexts. Schroeder demonstrates that conflicts within entrepreneurial families are less to be understood as individual disturbances and more as an expression of systemic tensions between family, business, and ownership. Special attention is paid to inter- and intragenerational conflicts, succession issues, gender roles, and the increasing differentiation between relationship and task-based communication. The qualitative study is based on expert interviews guided by a framework and follows the methodology of Grounded Theory.

The author concludes that despite differing institutional and cultural frameworks, entrepreneurial families in India and Germany experience comparable conflict patterns, but employ different coping strategies. While Indian entrepreneurial families are more dominated by collective-oriented, relationship-stabilising mechanisms, German entrepreneurial families show more formalised-institutional approaches to solutions. The work thus makes a substantial contribution to understanding conflicts as a normal, manageable component of entrepreneurial family structures and provides valuable impetus for consulting, research, and family strategic development processes.

Published in 2018 as Volume 23 of the series „Schriften zu Familienunternehmen“ (Writings on Family Businesses), edited by Arist von Schlippe and Tom A. Rüsen, by V&R unipress.