Our purpose is to challenge the dominant meaning of professional management in family business research and to suggest an
extended understanding of the concept. Based on a review of selected literature on professional management and with insights
from cultural theory and symbolic interactionism, we draw on interpretive case research to argue that professional family
business management rests on two competencies, formal and cultural, of which only the former is explicitly recognized in current
family business literature. We elaborate on the meanings and implications of cultural competence and argue that without it
a CEO of a family business is likely to work less effectively, no matter how good the formal qualifications and irrespective
of family membership.
