Los Retos de las Empresas Familiares Ante su Continuidad: Caso Tehuacán (Challenges for Family Business Continuity: Tehuacan Case Study)

Abstract

Family business is a vital force in the global economy. Nevertheless, the challenge of balancing family interests and business goals may help explain the high mortality rate of family businesses. When family members work together, emotions may interfere with business decisions. A serious problem faced by family businesses in Mexico is the lack of formality within family business. Therefore, it is critical to formalize or professionalize the family business and meet the differing goals of the two different, but interrelated domains, family and business. The inquiry was supported in a documentary and field research. The survey sample covers 342 family businesses in manufacturing, trade and services in Tehuacan city. This is the first statistical study of family businesses in Tehuacan. The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between the construct “professionalization” and constructs such as “performance”, “family harmony,” “effective communication” and “obstacles to professionalizing the family business.” A statistical model is proposed to explain the relationship among constructs and variables. This study also highlighted the importance of the variable-academic education, as main variable of the construct “professionalization.”

Note: Downloadable document is in Spanish.

Keywords: Family Business, Professionalization, Family Harmony, Effective Communication, Clear Rules, Unity, Commitment, Confidence, Leadership

JEL Classification: M19, M29