This edited collection analyses the unexplored concept of the family business group, evaluating the opportunities and advantages that it creates for entrepreneurs. Raising a number of important questions, the authors construct a new research agenda for the complex topic of the family business group, which will ultimately assess its contribution towards the economy and society in general. The chapters provide a core understanding of the phenomenon and cover its formation, nature and complexities, as well as offering a holistic perspective and exploring factors such as scale, size and regional contexts. A useful tool for those researching small businesses, organisation, and business strategy, this book highlights the key advantages of family business group structures in both developed and developing countries, and local and national contexts.

1. Introduction; Peter Rosa, Marita Rautiainen, Timo Pihkala, Maria José Parada and Allan Discua Cruz

Part I. Theoretical and Methodological Reflections
2. Theoretical Insights into the Nature, Diversity and Persistence of Business Groups; Peter Rosa and Timo Pihkala
3. The Methodological Challenges of Researching Family-owned Business Groups; Peter Rosa, Marita Rautiainen and Timo Pihkala.- Part II. The Emergence of Family Business Groups through Portfolio Entrepreneurship
4. The Emergence of a Family Business Group: The Role of Portfolio Entrepreneurship; Marita Rautiainen and Timo Pihkala
5. Managing Portfolio Business: A Case Study; Donato Iacobucci and Peter Rosa.- 6. Entrepreneurial Growth through Portfolio Entrepreneurship: The Entrepreneurial Career Ladder; Peter Rosa
7. Resourcefulness and the Informal Economy: From Pluriactivity to Portfolio Entrepreneurship; Naveed Akhter and Ernestine Ning
Part III. Complexity and the Development of Family Business Groups
8. The Dynamics and Complexity of Family Business Groups; Kajari Mukherjee, Marita Rautiainen, Timo Pihkala and Peter Rosa
9. Understanding the Dynamics of Business Group Development: A Transgenerational Perspective; Maria José Parada, Naveed Akhter,  Rodrigo Basco, Allan Discua-Cruz, Sarah Fitz-Koch
10. Deciphering Ownership of Family Business Groups; Timo Pihkala, Sanjay Goel, Marita Rautiainen, Kajari Mukherjee and Markku Ikävalko
11.  Governance in Family Business Groups: Resolving Multiple Contingencies to Sustain Entrepreneurial Capability; Sanjay Goel, Tuuli Ikäheimonen, and Marita Rautiainen
Part IV. Family Business Groups in Different Local Contexts
12.  The Contribution of Family Business Groups to the Local Innovation Environment; Suvi Konsti-Laakso, Jussi Heikkilä, Marita Rautiainen, Satu Rinkinen and Naveed Akhter
13. Resilience and Family Business Groups in Unstable Economies; Allan Discua Cruz, Rodrigo Basco, Maria José Parada, Antonio Malfense-Fierro, Cristina Alvarado
14. Entrepreneurship and Rural Family Identity: Understanding Portfolio Development in a Family Farm Business; Sarah Fitz-Koch, Sarah Cooper and Allan Discua Cruz
Part V. Conclusion
15. Conclusions; Peter Rosa, Marita Rautiainen, Timo Pihkala, Maria José Parada and Allan Discua Cruz.