To increase our understanding of the formal and informal relationships between the CFO and
the controlling family, qualitative research methods might be especially suitable to answer
the above-stated research questions and further demonstrate the aspects of the interrelation
between the CFO, family, and FB. Research designs based on extended case studies or
qualitative interviews should be particularly promising, as they could also bring forward
potentially overlooked or surprising interrelations (Creswell, 2009). As the CFO’s capacity
is strongly influenced by his or her relationship with the family and the CEO, it should also
be rewarding to not only include the subjective view of the CFO on his or her role in the
research design, but also the family’s and CEO’s view on the CFO’s role.