This paper delivers three main contributions to theory. First, the paper develops nine
propositions and a model on the different role a CFO plays in FBs and NFBs, which may
motivate further empirical investigation of the CFO in FBs. Second, this paper has discussed
the peculiarities of the role of the CFO in FBs, which provides both challenges and
opportunities for FBs. Additional studies of the CFO’s role in FBs compared to NFBs might
therefore also lead to a better understanding of performance differences between FBs and
NFBs as well as among the group of FBs. If a controlling family manages the integration of
a CFO well, then this should have an important impact on performance. In this regard,
Caselli & Di Giuli (2010) have already indicated that the proper collaboration between the
controlling family and the CFO positively impacts FB performance. Third, with respect to
general CFO research, this paper points out the importance of studying the CFO’s role in
dependency of the organizational setting in which the CFO operates. This paper has focused
on the comparison of CFOs in FBs and NFBs, indicating that the often-postulated role
change and increasing importance of CFOs might not apply to the organizational structure of
FBs to the same extent, which dominate (at least in terms of quantity) the landscape of firms
in most industrialized countries.