Narratives: a powerful device for values transmission in family businesses

摘要

Purpose - This paper seeks to shed light on how core values are successfully transmitted in familyrnbusinesses via narratives.rnDesign/methodology/approach - A qualitative-interpretive approach is used. Data were collectedrnthrough in-depth interviews made to 17 family members from three family businesses of differentrnages, sizes, industries, and generations in control. The richness of these interviews, besides its depthrnand length, emerges from the complete picture formed by the comparison of the stories told byrndifferent generations.rnFindings - Results suggest that narratives are a powerful device for transmitting values throughrngenerations. By telling stories, family businesses are able to build identity and shared meanings whichrnled to successful performance in terms of revenues, reputation, shared identity, and continuity of thernfamily business history.rnResearch limitations/implications - This paper is exploratory. Further studies focusing onrnfailure in transmitting values could enhance and expand emerging results. Deepening on valuesrntransmission may be a key research opportunity for general conceptualization.rnOriginality/value - The paper raises interesting issues for the family business literature within therncontext of values, an important yet understudied topic in the field. It also contributes tornnarrative theory by highlighting the usefulness of narratives as a vehicle for values transmission.