"What is the impact of the 2008 crisis on family businesses and how have they resisted that severe crisis (differently / better than non-family businesses)?"

A great deal of macroeconomic ink has already flowed over the causes and characteristics of the severe financial and economic crisis of 2008-2009, which is described as the Great Recession. Much less has been published about its impact on businesses and, a fortiori, on family businesses. Moreover, the relatively scarce publications about family businesses and the crisis are all too often based on assumptions and not on solid empirical research material.

If quantitative research into the impact of the crisis has nevertheless been carried out, this usually refers to listed family and non-family companies. So there are two clear gaps in existing research. On the one hand, there is little research into the performance of non-listed family businesses. On the other hand, little has been published about their performance in times of economic crisis.

Expected output

With this research, these two major gaps are filled. Figures show how non-listed family and non-family businesses in our country have weathered the 2009 crisis. In particular, they study how they have performed since 2009. A comparison is made between family and non-family businesses and between family businesses. The analysis within the group of non-listed family businesses complements a third gap in the (family business) literature. For completeness, listed family and non-family businesses are also examined. By separately analyzing unlisted and listed companies, apples and pears are prevented from being compared.

Taking the crisis years as a study period is very valuable because recessions are recurring events with far-reaching consequences.

Excepted output

Knowledge Platform for Professional Education (www.stairwaytosdg.eu) 

The Stairway to SDG platform is aimed at teachers in professional education. Educators who have the opportunity to raise awareness about sustainable development among students and promote debate, sustainability actions and sustainable innovation among students.

Objectives of the platform:

• Informing and raising awareness about sustainable development.
• Help teachers to integrate Education for Sustainable Development (EDO) into their teaching practice.
• Teachers a series of structured activities related to offer the Sustainable Development Goals, tailored to professional education. Learning activities that can be used in teaching practice.
• Offer teachers examples of good practice to inspire them.
• Promote the 'Stairway-to-SDG' app, as a self-assessment tool for sustainable behaviour.
• Provide a community where users can share results and progress.

My.Stairway - Self evaluation app 

To facilitate the work of teachers and to gain insight into the sustainable behavior of students, we have developed a new app. The self-assessment app works as a barometer to encourage reflection in students and to support them in a practice-oriented way to think about and take action to advance the SDGs.

The research has resulted in publications on psychological ownership and several conference papers, including:

• Limits to psychological ownership in the family business; Broekaert, Wouter ; Henssen, Bart; Lambrecht, Johan; Debackere, Koenraad; Andries, Petra Emerald Journal of Family Business Management; 2018; Vol. 8; pp. 196 - 216
• How to encourage psychological ownership? Make employees psychological owners of change; Vereecken, Hilde; Broekaert, Wouter; Henssen, Bart
• People and Management Media & Information; HR Square; 2016; iss. 163; pp. 35 - 41

By job crafting we mean the proactive self-adjustment of various task-oriented, relational, contextual and cognitive aspects of work so that employees can pursue goals that are important to them.

Job crafting is a skill and thus can be learned. Those who are less skilled can receive training and/or counseling through various service providers. Because of the cost and duration, the existing offerings of these service providers are often not very accessible to people with disabilities. Moreover, job crafting is a very linguistic method, with the disadvantage that low-educated people or people with a mild intellectual disability may be afraid to participate.

Therefore, in this project we developed a new service in which job crafting behavior is stimulated and guided through micro-interventions (i.e. without intensive contact with a trainer or coach, but through online communication technology such as a website, Facebook, WhatsApp, mobile app ... ) and this tailored to people with mild intellectual disabilities. By making job crafting accessible(r) for employees with disabilities, we wanted to enable them to work on promoting their sustainable employability themselves.

Indeed, in addition to the support the app now provides during the hospital stay, a need for a broader context emerged.