The emergence of bifurcation bias from unbalanced families: Examining HR practices in the family firm using circumplex theory

Family firm human resource (HR) research focuses largely on examining differences in HR practices between family and nonfamily firms or between family and nonfamily employees within family firms. Few studies, however, attempt to explain why these differences emerge. We offer insight into the source of heterogeneous HR practices by investigating attributes of the owning family. We integrate a primary family science perspective, circumplex theory, to describe how an unbalanced family structure leads to unbalanced HR systems in the family firm. An unbalanced HR system is depicted as a form of bifurcation bias, or the asymmetric treatment of family and nonfamily employees via the family firm's HR practices. By integrating and extending circumplex theory into the family firm, insight is offered into how the structure of the family system influences the structure of the family business HR system, thus impacting firm outcomes. Implications for both scholars and practitioners are offered.