Advising the Family Firm: Reviewing the Past to Build the Future

This study reviews the literature on advising family firms and integrates past contributions in such a way that scholars can use the findings as a foundation to launch future research. It reviews 105 articles and other research contributions published since 1983. The findings suggest that although advisors play a crucial role within family firms, there remains to date a lack of rigorous academic research. These past contributions are integrated into a framework that provides a first step toward developing theoretical arguments and charting directions for future research that address the nature of the family firm-advisor relationship.