Special knowledge needs of family enterprises in transition economies: experiences from Slovenia

In many countries throughout the world the majority of enterprises are family ones. Particularities in the development and management of family enterprises create needs for special knowledge. Therefore, in providing knowledge to these enterprises consideration must be given to their complexity, which is derived from the involvement of a family in ownership and management. In this paper, we discuss the importance of knowledge created and transferred from external sources such as counselling, publications, and education and training programs. External sources of knowledge considering the unique characteristics of family enterprises are well developed in many countries with established market economies. In Slovenia and, we believe, in many other former socialist countries, such external sources of knowledge are rare and still developing. The results of our research in Slovenia show that more than two–thirds of family business owners–managers regard such sources of knowledge as unimportant. This paper analyzes the reasons for such a finding.