Defining Professionalization and Managerialization in Family Firms: A Bibliometric Analysis and Systematic Literature Review

Damiano Petrolo, Luca Gnan, Wim Voordeckers and Frank Lambrechts

The purpose of this review is to map the intellectual structure of professionalization and managerialization in family firms, to explicit the implicit link between them, and to investigate why considering them together should be important for future research. In doing so, we used both bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review methodologies on articles published in the last ten years. This study is built on and expandс existing literature on professionalization and managerialization in family firms by considering all different streams of research on those topics and setting a useful point for future research. Addressing one of the most contentious issues in family businesses research, the results of this review are directed to both scholars and practitioners by enlightening the importance of professionalization and managerialization in family firms.