Jill Thomas

Research Interests

Business and Management Human Resources Management Small Business Management

Dr Jill Thomas

Adelaide Business School

Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics

Having recently retired from her substantive teaching and research role, Jill is a Visiting Research Fellow in the Adelaide Business School furthering her research and education focus in the family business field. Her teaching in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs in Adelaide and Singapore was in the leadership and family business areas. Jill also facilitated Executive Education programs.Jill's doctoral studies focused on leadership and family business and her current research activity relates to governance, communication, internationalisation and human resource issues in family owned and managed businesses in the small to medium enterprise (SME) sector. Jill's early career was in Human Resources Management and Training and Development in both the private and higher education sector.Jill is co-founder of the Family Business Education and Research Group (FBERG) in the Adelaide Business School. Jill is a fellow of the Family Firm Institute (FFI, based in the USA). In 2013 she completed a term as a Director of FFI and one year as Vice-Chair.. She is also a Director of Family Business Australia (FBA).Her research interests include: Leadership and communication Governance Family BusinessJill has a particular interest in the professional management of family owned businesses, particularly those businesses in the small to medium enterprise (SME) sector. She has explored decision-making in the family business, the perception of family business leaders about the role of non-family managers (particularly finance managers), communication processes within the family business, as well as investigating issues relevant to boards and governance of SME family businesses.Jill was Chief Investigator for an ARC Linkage grant for which APAI doctoral student Chris Graves examined the "Strategic responses of Australian family-owned businesses in the manufacturing sector to the pressures of globalisation".Teaching Interests:Jill teaching focused on the first course in the MBA program, Fundamentals of Leadership, both in Adelaide and offshore in Singapore. With Chris Graves, Jill developed the MBA elective - Family Business Issues and Perspectives. Jill has also taught the 'Leading and Managing People' module in the Faculty's Executive Education programs where practising managers attend one and two day programs to update their skills and knowledge.

Date Position Institution name
2013 - ongoing Visiting Research Fellow The University of Adelaide

Date Institution name Country Title
The University of South Australia Australia PhD
The University of Adelaide Australia MBA
Australian National University Australia BA

Year Citation
2015 Caspersz, D., & Thomas, J. (2015). Developing positivity in family business leaders. Family Business Review, 28(1), 60-75.
DOI Scopus18
2014 Smans, M., Freeman, S., & Thomas, J. (2014). Immigrant entrepreneurs: the identification of foreign market opportunities. International Migration, 52(4), 144-156.
DOI Scopus32 WoS26
2013 Botero, I., Thomas, J., Graves, C., & Fediuk, T. (2013). Understanding multiple family firm identities: An exploration of the communicated identity in official websites. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 4(1), 12-21.
DOI Scopus82 WoS75
2012 Botero, I., Graves, C., Thomas, J., & Fediuk, T. (2012). Recruitment challenges in family firms: the effects of message content and type of applicant on organisational attractiveness. International Journal of Management Practice, 5(4), 343-360.
DOI Scopus11
2012 Gurd, B., & Thomas, J. (2012). Family business management: contribution of the CFO. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, 18(3), 286-304.
DOI Scopus18 WoS16
2009 Thomas, J. (2009). Attitudes and expectations of shareholders: The case of the multi-generation family business. Journal of Management & Organization, 15(3), 346-362.
DOI Scopus12 WoS11
2008 Graves, C., & Thomas, J. (2008). Determinants of the internationalization pathways of family firms: An examination of family influence. Family Business Review, 21(2), 151-167.
DOI Scopus326 WoS250
2007 Thomas, J., Coleman, M., & Howieson, B. (2007). Perceptions about boards in SME sized family businesses. Electronic Journal of Family Business Studies, 1(2), 97-117.
2006 Graves, C., & Thomas, J. (2006). Internationalization of Australian family businesses: A managerial capabilities perspective. Family Business Review, 19(3), 207-224.
DOI Scopus252 WoS199
2005 Thomas, J., & Graves, C. (2005). Internationalization of the family firm: The contribution of an entrepreneurial orientation. Journal of Business & Entrepreneurship, 17(2), 91-113.
2004 Graves, C., & Thomas, J. (2004). Internationalisation of the family business: a longitudinal perspective. International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business, 1(1), 7-27.
DOI Scopus119
2002 Thomas, J. (2002). Freeing the shackles of family business ownership. Family Business Review, 15(4), 321-336.
DOI Scopus39

Year Citation
2010 Caspersz, D., & Thomas, J. (2010). Evaluating managerial round-tables for family business: The case study of forum in australia. In Proceedings of the 10th IFERA world family business research conference (pp. 1-19). Lancaster: IEED.
2010 Gupta, V., Graves, C., & Thomas, J. (2010). Understanding the internationalisation of family businesses: Lessons from the history of Chinese and Lebanese diaspora. In Proceedings of the Second Annual Conference of AAHANZBS (pp. 1-27). www: University of Sydney.
2009 Thomas, J. (2009). A succession of successions: Experiences of the third generation Kennard family-in-business. In Proceedings of the IFERA 2009 Cyprus (pp. 1-17). Cyprus: Cyprus International Institute of Management.
2009 Graves, C., & Thomas, J. (2009). Internationalisation, organisational change and conflict within the family firm. In Proceedings of IFERA 2009 Cyprus (pp. 1-18). Cyprus: Cyprus International Institute of Management.
2008 Graves, C., & Thomas, J. (2008). An examination of the effect of internationalisation on the family firm. In Proceedings of the 8th Annual IFERA Conference (pp. 1-29). Netherlands: IFERA.
2007 Graves, C., & Thomas, J. (2007). Exploring the determinants of the internationalisation pathways of family firms. In Franz Kellermanns (Ed.), Proceedings of the 7th Annual ifera Conference 2007 (pp. 1-28). Germany: European Business School.
2007 Thomas, J. (2007). Implications of family business dynamics for decision-making processes. In Ulla Hytti (Ed.), Proceedings of the ICSB World Conference 2007 (pp. 1-26). CDROM: Business Research & Development Centre.
2006 Thomas, J., & Coleman, M. (2006). Why have a board: Experiences of the family business. In D. Sharma, & D. Carayannopoulos (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2006 Family Enterprise Research Conference (pp. 1-37). USA: Wilfred Laurier School of Business & Economics.
2006 Graves, C., & Thomas, J. (2006). Traditional vs. 'Born-again' pathways to internationalisation: The family business experience. In Claire Massey (Ed.), Proceedings of the 51st ICSB World Conference (pp. DROM1-CDROM13). CDROM: Small Enterprise Association.
2006 Thomas, J. (2006). Family presence: Implications for decision-making in family business. In D. Kennedy, & A. Milia (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th ANZAM Conference (pp. CDROM1-CDROM19). CDROM: Central Queensland University.
2005 Gurd, B., & Thomas, J. (2005). The contribution of finance managers to family business - a survey of small to medium sized enterprises. In D. Davies, G. Fisher, & R. Hughes (Eds.), Proceedings of the 19th Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management Conference (pp. CD ROM 1-CD ROM 11). CD ROM: ANZAM.
2005 Thomas, J., & Coleman, M. (2005). Development and maintenance of board structures and practices in small to medium sized family businesses: An exploratory study. In P. Dickson (Ed.), Proceedings of the 50th ICSB World Conference: Golden Opportunities for Entrepreneurship (pp. CD ROM 1-CD ROM 29). CD ROM: Georgia Institute of Technology.
2004 Thomas, J., & Gurd, B. (2004). The role of the finance manager in the professional family business. In S. Tamaselli, & L. Melin (Eds.), Research Forum Proceedings: Family Firms in the Wind of Change (pp. 418-433). Lausanne, Switzerland: FBN - The Family Business Network.
2004 Thomas, J. (2004). Professionalising the family business: The influence of the finance manager. In S. Grover (Ed.), Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management ANZAM 2004 (pp. CD-ROM 1-CD-ROM 14). CD-ROM: ANZAM.
2004 Thomas, J., & Graves, C. (2004). Internationalising the family firm as a demonstration of an entrepreneurial culture. In K. Campbell (Ed.), Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Proceedings (pp. CD-ROM 305-CD-ROM 328). CD-ROM: University of Central Arkansas.
2004 Graves, C., & Thomas, J. (2004). Internationalisation of the family business: A managerial capabilities perspective. In S. Tomaselli, & L. Melin (Eds.), Research Forum Proceedings: Family Firms in the Wind of Change (pp. 196-214). Lausanne, Switzerland: FBN - The Family Business Network.
2003 Graves, C., & Thomas, J. (2003). Venturing beyond the backyard: internationalisation of the family business. In J. Bailey, R. Barrett, G. Carr MacFie, E. Douglas, J. Harman, P. Hutchinson, . . . P. Sheldrake (Eds.), Proceedings of the Small Enterprise Association of Australia and New Zealand 16th Annual Conference (pp. www 1-www 19). CDROM: Small Enterprise Association of Australia and New Zealand.
2003 Thomas, J. (2003). Management and leadership challenges: a family business perspective. In Alan Brown (Ed.), Proceedings of the 17th ANZAM Conference (pp. CDROM 1-CDROM 17). CDROM: ANZAM.
2002 Thomas, J., & Gurd, B. (2002). The role of the financial manager in the family business. In P. Bamber, & A. Barrett (Eds.), Proceedings of the ANZAM/IFSAM 2002 VIth World Conference (pp. CDROM 1-CDROM 12). www.gu.edu.au/ifsam: Centre for Business Education and Development, Griffith University.
2002 Thomas, J. (2002). Human resource management challenges in the family business. In D. Forsaith, & N. Bluhm (Eds.), Small enterprise: Accessing the global economy (pp. CDROM 1-CDROM 32). South Australia: School of Commerce, Flinders University.

Year Citation
2015 Graves, C. R., Thomas, J., & Caspersz, D. (2015). KPMG - Family Business Australia 2015 National Family Business Survey. Melbourne, AUS: KPMG Australia.

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2010 - 2012 Co-Supervisor The Internationalisation of Immigrant Ethnic Entrepreneurs Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Melanie Jade Smans
2002 - 2006 Principal Supervisor Venturing Beyond the Backyard: An Examination of the Internationalisation Process of Australian Small-to-Medium-Sized Family-Owned Manufacturing Enterprises Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time APrf Christopher Graves

Date Role Committee Institution Country
2012 - 2013 Vice-Chair Family Firm Institute - -
2011 - ongoing Board Member Family Business Australia Board - -
2010 - 2013 Board Member Family Firm Institute - -
1997 - ongoing Member Family Business Australia SA Advisory Committee - -

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