Investigation of generation conflict and management problems in family businesses: A qualitative research

The purpose of this research is to examine generational conflict and managerial problems in family businesses. Conflicts in the life span of family businesses, which is accepted as an average of 25 years for Turkey, is the most fundamental factor that shortens the life of the business. It is aimed to shed light on family businesses, where only 13 out of every 100 businesses can see the 3rd generation, with this research focusing on generational conflict. The phenomenology approach was adopted in the research. In the first part of the research, the concepts of family businesses and generational conflict are examined in depth with different definitions and researches in the literature. In the second part of the study, suggestions were made by referring to the subject, purpose, method and findings of the study. As a result of the research, it has been seen that the first generation intervenes in the decisions regardless of which generation is in the management and the conflicts are high in these enterprises where interventions are intense. It has been determined that different views lead to conflicts by confusing rather than diversity of ideas. It has been determined that conflicts have not decreased in businesses with a family council, and the family council alone is not sufficient to suppress conflicts without a family constitution. While it has been determined that the conflicts reduce the morale and productivity of the employees, it has been determined that the conflicts can have a positive effect on the business.