Fredo Effect Analysis

The discussion “How one bad family member can undermine a family firm: Preventing the Fredo effect” was conducted by Roland E. Kidwell, Kimberly A. Eddleston, John James Cater III and Franz W. Kellermans. The article approaches the problem of toxic family employees in firms. The authors give a detailed overview of how bad family members influence the fate and welfare of a company and how to fight with this kind of members. The authors established the term of “Fredo effect” in regard to family members of the firm that undermine the evolution of the business. The evolution of Fredos is stimulated by the lack of communication, siblings’ rivalry, and parental altruism. Moreover, the authors give several solutions for the problem, such as: strategy

For the reading feasibility of the article the authors divided the discussion into several parts that helped to get a deeper insight of the discussion and the subject approached. Even if the article gives a proper explanation of the phenomena, the examples provided by the author lack definite information such as certain data sets. Sciascia (2014), on the other hand conducted its research utilizing statistics of 233 Italian firms. In the introduction, the authors grasp the attention using an artistic approach to the general subject. From examining the introduction, it can be said that this approach is highly effective. The second section focuses on the factors that influence the development of a Fredo in the family, explaining that the toxic behavior is a result of improper family relations and altruism. Given this information and the example provided by the authors, a better understanding of the concept is given by examining the problem from its roots. The involvement of the example from life experiences enhances the comprehension and attention concerning the subject. Again, it can be seen that this is a good strategy, because it gives a deep understanding of the subject. In the third section, the authors explain “How does Fredo damage the firm”, which is essential, as it gives an ample explanation of the damaging behavior these kinds of employees have to the firm and the family wellbeing. As stated in the discussion, the presence of a Fredo in any position in the firm can have fatal consequences in almost every division of the firm. The authors return to the root of the concept, and explain through the “The Godfather” precedent, how the exposure of the Fredo in a firm strains the business from the emotional and the financial perspective. Moreover, a non-fiction example is given to balance the line between fantasy and reality. It can be