The 3D IFB SWOT Analysis as a Strategic Tool to Develop Entrepreneurial Plans for Family Businesses

This chapter provides a framework that family business members can use to strategically and entrepreneurially evaluate themselves before they prepare the final strategic plan of the family firm. The tool consists of four phases. The first phase is the Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) analysis of the Individuals that are members of the family business. The second phase is the SWOT analysis of the Family's generational groups. Each generation in the family business will work in groups according to their year of birth. The third phase is the SWOT analysis of the Business. The fourth and most important phase is the integration called 3D IFB SWOT Analysis. It is 3D because it is three-dimensional, integrating the Individual, the Family's generations, and the Business.

Marketing Management Inside the Business Family

This chapter shows the forms of relationship between the family business (FB) and its customers, through marketing and branding management. By reviewing literature, authors address three concepts: marketing and branding to generate value, the strategic and operational phase within business management, and consumer behavior along with the performance of the Company based on the rational or emotional. With these elements and through an exploratory theoretical method, authors present in a first phase the SOFT model as a starting point for understanding the decision making within the FB. Subsequently, the chapter defines that the client's decisions exposed to the marketing and branding actions are given through his triune brain, in which there are intellectual, limbic, and reptilian decisions. Authors propose through these two perspectives the relational concept between FB and client that they have called MindKeting as an exploratory proposal that helps to understand the types of decisions and actions that must be taken at the time of marketing management and brand of FB.

Sustainability Attitudes of Tourism Family Firms in Alpine Tourism Regions

Recognising opportunities and risks are central for every business to stay successful in the long-run and a mandatory capability to create realistic management strategies. Recent papers argue strategic planning is sustainable in the long run. However, little is known about the owner-managers' attitudes and perceptions of challenges and opportunities of family businesses. This research shows the results of a qualitative inquiry identifying attitudes on sustainability of owner-managers in tourism family firms. Furthermore, attitudes towards the three dimensions of sustainability are analysed. The results reveal an awareness of economic and social sustainability attitudes while the environmental dimension seems to be less prominent.

Structural, Psychological, and Socioemotional Factors That Determine Innovation Decisions in Family Firms

This chapter explores the structural, psychological, and socioemotional factors in innovation in a funeral home in Mexico and analyzes the firm's stage in the innovation process. This qualitative study examines socioemotional wealth through the FIBER dimensions and the stage in the innovation process through the Readiness for Innovation in Family Firms (RIFF) framework. The findings suggest that socioemotional wealth has not allowed the implementation of governmental bodies. The existence of two generations in management has allowed the firm to take advantage of the knowledge and experience of the old generation and the skills of the young generation to continue innovating in products, processes, and services. The firm has the willingness and ability to adopt innovation, although SEW's accumulated endowment has limited long-term innovations as the expansion of the business to other states. This chapter addresses the Arriaga Group case study, a well-known family business firm in Hidalgo, Mexico.

Factors Affecting Women´s Involvement in the Governance of Family Firms

The chapter analyzes female involvement in medium-sized family businesses in Central Italy. The empirical analysis focuses on 233 firms over the period 2007-2014, to understand how female representation in corporate governance has evolved in recent years, and to pinpoint the factors tending to encourage/discourage female involvement in the board of directors. A descriptive analysis was conducted, enabling a fuller understanding of how female involvement in governance roles has evolved over the years. A regression analysis was performed to determine if and how specific governance characteristics – such as family ownership and generational stage – may have a bearing on the female presence on the board. The results confirm that female representation is favorably influenced by a strong family presence in the ownership of the business, while family firms under first-generation control exert a negative influence on female involvement.

The Generational Succession in Family Firms

Knowledge transfer is essential to managing a family firm's succession. Given the importance of knowledge in family firms, this chapter identifies, through an empirical approach, which are the main organizational strategies used for sharing, disseminating, and using the knowledge available as fundamental elements for survival and the development of companies in the phase of generational succession. The authors investigate the phenomenon and verify the evidence in some private health organizations interested in the generational change located in South Italy, given the lack of previous case studies. This chapter deepens the phenomenon and its recognizability by examining with a qualitative analysis of the problems existing in those who are currently living or have experienced this particular moment of business life.

Data Analytics

The growing proliferation of data in firms around the world have made analytics a success factor for business growth, and by default, achieving greater performance. This research proposes a data analytics model for marketing decision making. Literature was reviewed, and several key factors for the growth of the family business were identified. In addition, 140 marketing managers from family and non-family firms in Spain were surveyed. Four key factors were identified to implement a data analytics project. An empirical model is presented, which allows visualizing the relationships that generate quality information. Data analytics is a competitive advantage for recognized firms in the world; however, there is an underutilization of information by the family business. This chapter allows reducing the gap between competitors, regardless of their ownership structure. Therefore, it declares a challenge and an opportunity for the family firm.

The Strategic Divestment Decision in the Family Business Through the Real Options and Emotional Lenses

Divestments have received little attention in family business research, although representing one of the most important strategic and financial decisions. Additionally, they have been insufficiently studied from the owning family's emotional perspective. This chapter contributes in filling these gaps by focusing on the core entity of the family business as object of divestment from the Real Options and Regret theoretical lenses. It suggests a characterization of the family business divestment decision and a series of propositions with case vignettes around configurations of divestment options, their valuation, and influence in different emotional family business archetypes.

Reading Between the Lines

This chapter contributes to strategic management studies in family firms by focusing on innovation strategies as drivers to guarantee firm survival across generations. Specifically, built on the construct of family business innovation posture and based on the content analysis of 10 small and medium family firm narratives, this chapter identifies the figure of the father as the cornerstone in whom innovation strategies have their origin and their evolution as firm-driven, family-driven, and/or market-driven. The chapter proposes a model that highlights the dimensions of family heterogeneity and provides new insights into the relationship between the role of the father figure and three drivers related to family business innovation: product and production quality, past knowledge, and risk-taking propensity.

Family Capital in Family Businesses

Family capital is all social, human, and financial capital a family has at their disposal in the family to advance the business. Family capital is the pool of resources unique to family business and it has the potential for family businesses to gain competitive advantage over nonfamily businesses in today's competitive landscape. To advance the knowledge about strategic management in family businesses, this chapter reviews quantitative empirical work on each dimension of family capital and concludes that the field is still in its infancy. Most studies concentrate on (a part of) social capital, a few on human capital, and very few on all three dimensions. The review of the literature describes avenues for further research on family capital.