Abstract

Purpose: This study sheds a light to explore the formal organisational structure for the sustainability of entrepreneurial family businesses. Basically, family businesses belong to old generations in developing nations did not often employ formal structures, but as their businesses expanded, they began to do so. This study discovers what type of organizational structure family business used to achieve the goal of sustainability.

Design: A qualitative method is used in this study to identify the formal organisational structure for the sustainability of the entrepreneurial family business. 12 Successful entrepreneurs have been selected to know the best implementation of organisational structure for the sustainability of the family business. After that AHP method has been used to test which organizational structure is better for the family business sustainability.

Findings: The findings of this study showed that successful entrepreneurs are not using complex structure but they are using mainly three types of organisational structures. These are functional structure, horizontal structure, and a vertical structure supporting entrepreneurial family business sustainability of Pakistan.

Originality/Value: Several studies are conducted to explain the organisational structure in different context. However, previous studies overlooked the role of organisational structure in the entrepreneurial family business. While, family business are entirely different from other type of business based on governance. Therefore, there is need to know what organizational structure areneeded for the sustainability of the family business.