Why Governance Matters for Founder-Led and Family-Controlled Firms – Darko Tipurić Ivana Kovač

Why Governance Matters for Founder-Led and Family-Controlled Firms challenges one of the central assumptions of mainstream corporate governance: that governance frameworks developed for large publicly listed corporations can be readily applied to founder-led and familycontrolled enterprises.
Drawing on contemporary governance theory, organisation studies, entrepreneurship, and family business research, the authors develop a conceptual framework tailored to the institutional realities of closely held firms. Rather than treating these enterprises as smaller versions of public corporations, they show that founder-led and family-controlled firms constitute a distinct governance context shaped by concentrated ownership, founder authority, family relationships, and the demands of intergenerational continuity.
The book explores leadership, governance structures, succession, institutional development, and the transformation of personal authority into enduring organisational capability. By integrating rigorous scholarship with practical insight, it offers a new perspective on how governance can strengthen the resilience, continuity, and long-term sustainability of founder-led and family-controlled firms. It will be of interest to scholars, students, founders, family business owners, board members, advisors, and policymakers concerned with the governance of closely held enterprises.