Italian Family Business Cultures Involved in the Generational Change

In family firms, the business and the family are two arenas in which processes significantly overlap and influence management. The present paper investigates the overlap of the family system and the business through the use of culture. Adopting an idiographic approach and recognising the unique psychodynamic process of family business (FB), this study aims to identify the cultural patterns within the FB, starting from what families define as a) family, b) business and, c) the generational change. Twenty-five family firms were considered during the generational change. The results show how and when this overlap takes shape pointing out how the role of family tradition can became a critical or success factor for the business.