Choosing to Stay in the Family Business Begins with the Option to Leave

A new opinion piece by Mika Mazur applies Albert Hirschman's 'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty' model to family businesses. The argument: an available exit door strengthens the weight of those who remain, while locking the door creates a silence that may be mistaken for harmony but is actually disengagement.

At a family shareholders' meeting, a cousin in her forties, who has held shares for nearly twenty years and never worked in the business, asks to sell her stake. The uncle at the head of the table replies curtly: 'We don't sell,' and moves to the next item. She did not insist, and since then, for four years, she has hardly asked questions. The column, by Mika Mazur, a partner at Lansberg Gersick Advisors, applies economist Albert Hirschman's 'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty' model to family businesses. The central claim: an available exit door, even if not used, strengthens the weight of the voices that remain, while locking the door creates a silence that may be mistakenly perceived as harmony. The article distinguishes between a family that consciously chose not to allow exit and a family that never asked the question. It emphasizes that when there is no possibility to exit, it is hard to know who truly chooses to stay voluntarily.