nepotism

n.
Favoritism shown or patronage granted to relatives, as in business.

[French népotisme, from Italian nepotismo, from nepote, nephew, from Latin nepōs, nepōt-.]

nepotist nep'o·tist n.
nepotistic nep'o·tis'tic or nep'o·tis'ti·cal adj.

Employment and economic policies practicing favoritism toward one's family. Firms give favored employment positions to family members as well as encouraging business transactions with other family members. Many U.S. Businesses discourage nepotism in personnel practices.

In the business world, nepotism is the practice of showing favoritism toward one's family members or friends in economic or employment terms. For example, granting favors or jobs to friends and relatives, without regard to merit, might be considered nepotism. These practices can have damaging effects on businesses—such as eroding the support of non-favored employees or reducing the quality and creativity of management. In response, some larger companies have instituted "antinepotism" policies, which prevent relatives (by blood or marriage) from working in the same department or firm. But in many smaller, family-owned businesses, nepotism is viewed in more positive terms. Family members are trained in various aspects of management to ensure the continuity of the company when members of the earlier generation retire or die. In fact, in many small businesses nepotism is considered a synonym for "succession."

One of the most common arguments against nepotism is that the emotional ties between people who are related may negatively affect their decision making abilities and professional growth. In the past, many businesses sought to avoid even the appearance of nepotism by forbidding relatives from working closely together. As women entered the work force in greater numbers and took on more significant jobs, however, rules regarding nepotism began to change. Both the man and the woman in a married couple were often too valuable for a company to lose. Instead of instituting strict antinepotism rules, many businesses decided that family members could be accommodated within a merit system, especially if there was no direct supervisory link between the positions of related employees.

Nepotism in Small Businesses

Nepotism has also traditionally had negative connotations in small business environments. "Business owners and their advisers have often feared that non-family employees would resent and possibly treat unkindly family members brought into the business or would see the family members as roadblocks to their own career success," noted Sharon Nelton in Nation's Business. "They also feared that some family members themselves might be incompetent or lazy yet have an attitude of entitlement."

But nepotism can be useful in smaller, family- owned businesses, when practiced in a reasonable way that rewards all employees for company successes. The emotional bonds between family members can actually have a positive effect on individual performance and company results. In addition, hiring family members can fill staffing requirements with dedicated employees. And it should not be forgotten that preparing a family member to carry on a business is a perfectly legitimate enterprise for the owner of a family business.

But in order to avoid potential pitfalls and ensure that relatives work together effectively, the company should establish formal guidelines regarding hiring, responsibilities, reporting structure, training, and succession. These guidelines will be different depending on the family's size, culture, history, and line of business, in addition to other factors. "How strict or liberal the rules …are is less important than clear communication of the rules before they are needed and fair application of the rules when timely," Craig E. Aronoff and John L. Ward wrote in Nation's Business. After all, most non-family employees recognize the legitimacy of preparing younger family members to assume the company's reins down the road. But experts agree that a widespread workforce perception that family members are not being held responsible for their performance can blossom into a major morale problem.

Regarding hiring, Aronoff and Ward recommend in Family Business Succession that family members meet three qualifications before they are allowed to join the family business on a permanent basis: an appropriate educational background; three to five years' outside work experience; and an open, existing position in the firm that matches their background. Of these qualifications, Aronoff and Ward stress that outside work experience is the most important for both the business and the individual. They claim that it gives future managers a wider experience base that makes them better equipped to deal with challenges, lets them learn and make mistakes before coming under the watchful eye of the family, makes them realize what other options exist and thus appreciate the family firm, and provides them with an idea of their market value.

Aronoff and Ward also suggest that family members begin their association with the business by working part-time during their school years or participating in internships. In addition, they stress that companies who hire family members should make it clear to the individuals that they will be fired for illegal or unethical behavior, regardless of their family ties. Finally, they recommend that family businesses encourage their employees to maintain outside associations in order to avoid problems associated with a lack of creativity or accountability in management. For example, future managers could participate in industry or civic groups, enroll in night school classes or attend seminars, take responsibility for a division or profit center, and have their job performance reviewed by outside consultants or directors. Such steps can improve the employee's self-confidence and preparation for an eventual leadership role in the business.

Further Reading:

Aronoff, Craig E., and John L. Ward. Family Business Succession: The Final Test of Greatness. Business Owner Resources, 1992.

Aronoff and Ward. "Rules for Nepotism." Nation's Business. January 1993.

Lynn, Jacquelyn. "Lawfully Wedded Employees." Entrepreneur. April 2000.

Milazzo, Don. "All in the Family." Birmingham Business Journal. August 11, 2000.

Nelton, Sharon. "The Bright Sight of Nepotism." Nation's Business. May 1998.

See also: Family-Owned Business

n

Definition: favoritism
Antonyms: impartiality

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The term "nepotism" (from Latin nepos, 'nephew') refers to the popes' practice of appointing a "nephew" to the curial office of cardinal-nephew. The term can also refer more generally to the appointment of a close relative or other favored person to an ecclesiastical position. Because clerical celibacy generally meant that prelates had no sons, siblings' sons or other close relations were chosen for positions requiring discretion and confidentiality. In the early modern era there were instances of a pope's natural sons filling such positions, as with Alexander VI's son Cesare Borgia (1475/1476–1507), who was made archbishop and later cardinal. (The term "nephew" might in fact be used to refer euphemistically to the natural son of a prelate.) Nepotism also refers to the practice of granting to family members, friends, or others ecclesiastical offices, benefices, preferment, and favors. Dispensing ecclesiastical offices and wealth as personal property to those one favored rather than those worthy to receive them was considered a serious abuse and was forbidden by canon law.

The genesis of the office of papal cardinal-nephew is obscure, but it can be traced back well into the Middle Ages. In the early modern papacy, the office of cardinal-nephew became crucial, as it safeguarded a papal family's control over finances, affairs of state, diplomacy, ecclesiastical appointments, theological issues, and matters pertaining to the papal family's social status. Cardinal-nephews looked out for the aggrandizement of the papal family (which was also their own) in the short duration of the pope's reign. Nephews held the ecclesiastical dignity of cardinal, but many were not ordained; they might also hold a clerical rank from cardinal-deacon to cardinal-archbishop. They often functioned as secretaries, advisers, managers, and supervisors over the affairs of the Papal States. Their responsibilities often varied greatly from one pontificate to another. Most cardinal-nephews interacted closely with other clerical officials, especially the secretary of state (who might also be a nephew). Based on the closest ties of kinship, the nephews' trustworthiness gave them privileged access to popes and to the inner circles of curial deliberations; it also provided opportunities for acquiring enormous wealth.

Though sometimes appointed very early in life, some cardinal-nephews proved to be highly competent, indispensable administrators. Among these were Carlo Borromeo (1538–1585), a nephew of Pius IV who later became archbishop of Milan, and Alessandro Farnese (1520–1589), grandson of Paul III. Others proved dissolute, and some, like Paul IV's nephew Carlo Carafa, who was executed for his shameless activities, were disastrous. The Barberini nephews of Pope Urban VIII, Francesco (1597–1679) and Antonio (1607–1671), caused a diplomatic crisis in 1634 when one became cardinal-protector of Spain, the other of France. Many cardinal-nephews were great patrons of the arts. Scipione Borghese, for instance, was patron of the young Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680). At the close of the seventeenth century, Innocent XII (reigned 1691–1700) eliminated the office of cardinal-nephew, as reformers pressed for popes who did not put family aggrandizement first. The cardinal-nephew's duties were subsumed by the secretary of state.

Bibliography

Fragnito, Gigliola. "Il nepotismo farnesiano tra ragioni di stato e ragioni di chiesa." In Continuità e discontinuità nella storia politica, economica e religiosa: Studi in onore di Aldo Stella. Edited by Paolo Pecorari and Giovanni Silvano. Vicenza, 1993.

Ippolito, Antonio Menniti. "The Secretariat of State as the Pope's Special Ministry." In Court and Politics in Papal Rome, 1492–1700. Edited by Gianvittorio Signorotto and Maria Antonietta Visceglia. Cambridge, U.K., and New York, 2002.

Reinhard, Wolfgang. "Nepotismus: Der Funktionswandel einer papstgeschichtlichen Konstanten." Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte 86 (1975): 145–185.

Reinhardt, Volker. Kardinal Scipione Borghese (1605–1633): Vermögen, Finanzen und sozialer Aufstieg eines Papstnepoten. Tübingen, 1984.

Robertson, C. "Il Gran Cardinale." In Alessandro Farnese, Patron of the Arts. New Haven and London, 1992.

—FREDERICK J. MCGINNESS

(nep-uh-tiz-uhm)

Favoritism granted to relatives or close friends, without regard to their merit. Nepotism usually takes the form of employing relatives or appointing them to high office.

A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce

n.

Appointing your grandmother to office for the good of the party.

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IN BRIEF: To favor a relative, especially in regard to political office.

NEPOTISM, n. Appointing your grandmother to office for the good of the party. — Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914), American satirist, from The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce.

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - nepotisme

Nederlands (Dutch)
nepotisme, vriendjespolitiek

Français (French)
n. - népotisme

Deutsch (German)
n. - Vetternwirtschaft, Nepotismus

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - νεποτισμός, ευνοιοκρατία

Italiano (Italian)
nepotismo

Português (Portuguese)
n. - nepotismo (m)

Русский (Russian)
кумовство

Español (Spanish)
n. - nepotismo, enchufismo

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - svågerpolitk, nepotism

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
偏袒, 裙带关系, 起用亲戚

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 偏袒, 裙帶關係, 起用親戚

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 족벌주의

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 縁者びいき

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) محاباة الاقارب ( في التوظيف)‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮העדפת קרובים או חברים בהענקת משרות וזכויות‬

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