The transformation of values in family businesses: an institutional approach

Family businesses have received increased attention from researchers, practitioners, media and policy makers alike during the last decade. There seems to be a growing awareness within several stakeholder groups that the family business constitute a rather special and unique form of business organization. Recently, it has been argued that there is an increasing institutionalization of the family business where mimetic, coercive and normative forces pressure family businesses to become similar to each other, for instance, through adoption of specific governance structures, processes and policies (Melin and Nordqvist, 2007). Here the 'family business' come to refer to a special form of business organization subject to similar forces, constituting an 'organizational field', that is, a recognized area of institutional life (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983). So far, however, very little research has been conducted to examine the antecedent or the outcomes of institutionalization processes focused on the family business. The purpose of this paper is to contribute with knowledge regarding the process of values transformation and the institutionalization of the family business with new conceptual considerations and empirical observations.