An Advisor to a Family Business. Main Challenges from the Perspective of Socio-Emotional Wealth (SEW)

The objective of the article is to identify from the perspective of socio-emotional wealth the key challenges that formal advisors cooperating with family businesses face and the factors determining their effective cooperation. The paper has a theoretical character. Using the assumptions of socio-emotional wealth construct the propositions indicating the future research directions were formulated. The main challenge of formal advisors working with family businesses is to understand and accept that socio-emotional wealth is an important point of reference in the process of making strategic decisions. Therefore, one of the most important factors for their effective cooperation is the advisor's awareness of the importance of SEW for the owners' family, sources of socio-emotional wealth and the current phase in the life cycle of the family business.