Add to ORKGDuring their process of growth, firms may face several resistances by the family management. Among the different sources of entrepreneurial resistance, this paper focuses on delegation as a challenge that leads to rethinking power relations. Although the allocation of decisions across organisational agents is important for firms’ survival, scholars have overlooked the decision process in small and medium firms due to the concentration of all decision processes in the hands of the owner. However, there comes a time when the owner-manager is no longer able to handle every aspect of the firm’s running and needs to adjust power allocation. This research explores the delegation process in Italian medium-sized family owned SMEs and its effectiven...