Abstract
Family firms are, as the name implies, the overlapping of two big communities, 'the family' and 'the firm'. Researchers from all over the world agree that the influence that a family has on the entrepreneur affects his activities. Another important point in family firms is the daily routines. In these routines, family members can get in touch with the entrepreneur. This study addresses how family firm members influence the acting of the entrepreneur. The theoretical background is based on two contrasting approaches, the principal-agent approach and the principal-steward approach. We employed the 'diary book method' to identify various interesting results, notably family firms tested positively to exercising the principal-steward approach and the 'diary book method' is an unexpected powerful research tool. Copyright © 2011 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.