The continuity of entrepreneurial familiesanalysis from an internal and external perspective

Resumen

The ubiquity of Family Businesses (FBs) in most territories worldwide makes of their continuity a subject of interest for academics and practitioners alike. A distinguishing feature of this particular form of business is to be in the pursuit of continuity by implementing a transgenerational vision. In the quest for it, the Entrepreneurial Families (EFs) running the businesses face several obstacles that can jeopardise the successful attainment of survival. This Doctoral dissertation addresses EFs’ continuity from an encompassing internal and external perspective through the conduction of three empirical investigations under the form of three research papers. In the first research paper, the internal perspective is tackled by delving into the tacit sphere of perceptions that emerge within the FBs during the intra-family succession process. Particularly, because, according to literature on leadership, the expectations of leaders influence the performance of followers, in this first investigation, the so-called Pygmalion Effect (PE) is applied to examine how it is developed and how it can be preserved in the context of family Small and Medium Enterprises. To do so, a qualitative investigation is conducted by focusing on the intra-family succession processes of four in-depth cases. Offering a kaleidoscopic view, empirical evidence stemming from the research demonstrates that the PE supports incumbent, successor, and key stakeholders’ expectations through the process. Secondly, the external perspective is investigated by the two remaining research papers. For EFs to continue and grow, remaining embedded in the territory is required. Despite this, the study of embeddedness as a binding mechanism that ties the FB to the territory had been scarcely researched. To fill this void, in the second research paper an exploration on how territory impacts on EFs’ embeddedness is conducted. From a territorial perspective, the cultural, political, structural, and cognitive modes of embeddedness are revisited. After analysing twenty-five semi-structured interviews, findings unveil that the EFs’ embeddedness can be impacted by the territory via these four modes. Specifically, a framework of sixteen territorial factors were identified, being two of them labelled as transversal given their simultaneous operation in more than one mode of embeddedness. Finally, the third research paper examines the local embeddedness of EFs from a multi-territorial perspective. Considering that, EFs are not only entrenched in their territories, but also in institutions, to understand how different institutional settings impact on EFs’ local embeddedness has relevant implications for their continuity. Bringing together research from family business literature and the institutional theory, a qualitative investigation is performed. Following the Varieties of Capitalism logics, forty-three EFs and local experts were interviewed in regions belonging to European countries classified as three distinctive institutional settings. Namely, region of Baden-Württemberg (in Germany, as a Coordinated Market Economy), region of Scotland (in United Kingdom, as a Liberal Market Economy), and the Basque Country and Pays-dela-Loire regions (in Spain and France respectively, as Mediterranean capitalist cases). Offering a framework of twenty institutional mechanisms, findings revealed that formal and informal institutional mechanisms impact differently according to the institutional setting where the EF is embedded. Theoretical and practical implications for each of the research papers are drawn.