Bacteria cause ulcers, we're now told, and cholesterol causes coronary disease and heart attacks. Not in a family-owned company. Because of its special overlay of business values with family values, a family business' living and working environment can generate extraordinary levels of stress. That stress can bring on costly mistakes, erode morale and productivity and fracture relationships.
Every business operation requires at least some teamwork.
Sibling conflict frequently causes stress in family businesses, growing out of real or perceived parental favoritism or out of the fact that one kid of the family actually works harder, produces better and earns more than another. He probably gets a bigger salary, too. Look at the size of the ring he gave his wife. The causes and effects of conflict between parents and children are as old and varied as the human race itself. Parents may judge their kids in the business more harshly than they judge other employees.