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Despite the great importance attributed to values in the family business, few studies have focused on their importance and on how such values influence the way family businesses behave over time. Using Aristotelian virtues as our main framework, the purpose of this paper is to understand what motivates both family members and business families to perform virtuous acts, therefore, observing the underlying beliefs at both levels of analysis that make individuals and families repeatedly behave in a way that reflects the pursuit of excellence of character.

The authors rely on a qualitative methodology, following an interpretive approach. Based on the narratives of family members from two Spanish family businesses, the authors abductively analyze how values and virtues in family businesses allow them to cope with changes that occur across generations.

Findings suggest that family businesses that have survived heavy crises have been able to overcome these critical moments in part due to their strong virtues – both at the individual and at the family level – where the so-called four cardinal virtues have been evident, for example, through the achievement of collective goals and adherence to a stated mission, as well as through behaviors that have been aimed at improving and benefiting the community.

Values are the basis for all businesses and their behaviors. Understanding the type of values, as well as the underlying virtues, that allow for prosperity across generations is important for business families to perpetuate those that allow the family business to thrive.

This paper contributes to the family business field by exploring a key understudied dimension that determines family business prosperity over time and across generations. It brings to the forefront values and virtues that are rarely studied in this setting despite their great importance, using narratives as a key element for value transmission as well as a research method that allows for deeper insights about specific processes.

Despite agreement on the importance of adopting governance structures for developing competitive advantage, we still know little about why or how governance mechanisms are adopted in the first place. We also acknowledge that family businesses with formal governance mechanisms in place still resort to informal means to make decisions, and we lack knowledge about why certain governance mechanisms are sometimes, but not always, effective and functional. Given these research gaps, and drawing on institutional theory, we aim to explore: How are governance structures adopted and developed in family firms? Once adopted, how do family businesses perceive these governance structures?

Using Mokken Scale Analysis, a method suitable to uncover patterns/sequences of adoption/acquisition over time, we analyze a dataset of 1,488 Spanish family firms to explore if there is a specific pattern in the implementation of governance structures. We complement the analysis with descriptive data about perceived usefulness of such structures.

Our findings highlight two important issues. Family businesses follow a specific process implementing first business governance (board of directors, then executive committee), followed by family governance (family council then family constitution). We suggest they do so in response to institutional pressures, given the exposure they have to business practices, and their need to appear legitimate. Despite formal adoption of governance structures, family businesses do not necessarily consider them useful. We suggest that their perception about the usefulness of the implemented governance structures may lead to their ceremonial adoption, resulting in a gap between the implementation and functionality of such structures.

Our article contributes to the family business literature by bringing novel insights about implementation of governance structures. We take a step back to explain why these governance mechanisms were adopted in the first place. Using institutional theory we enrich governance and family business literatures, by offering a lens that explains why family businesses follow a specific process in adopting governance structures. We also offer a plausible explanation as to why governance structures are ineffective in achieving their theorized role in the context of family businesses, based on the family's perception of the unusefulness of such structures, and the concept of ceremonial adoption.

There is no single recipe that can serve the multiple needs of different family businesses. This indicates that family businesses may need diverse levels of development and order when setting up their governance structures. Accordingly, this study constitutes an important point of demarcation for practitioners interested in examining the effectiveness of governance structures in family firms. We show that an important pre-requisite for examining the effectiveness of governance structures is to start by investigating whether these structures are actually being used or are only adopted ceremonially.

Our paper expands current knowledge on governance in family firms by taking a step back hinting at why are governance structures adopted in the first place. Focusing on how governance is implemented in terms of sequence is novel and relevant for researcher and practitioners to understand how this process unfolds. Our study uses institutional theory, which is a strong theory to support the results. Our paper also uses a novel method to study governance structures in family firms.

The purpose of this study is to explore the drivers for proactive workplace social performance in family firms through a configurational approach. Comparative research on family versus non-family firms and workplace social performance has produced mixed results. Consequently, several calls have been made to account for family business heterogeneity to understand better how family involvement in the business affects the workplace social performance. The authors respond to these calls by exploring the governance antecedents that can catalyze family firms’ workplace social performance.

Using qualitative comparative analysis, the authors analyze 131 family firms from the STEP survey data.

The authors find two governance configurations that lead to better family business workplace social performance. The first configuration is the combination of 100% family ownership, high family involvement in management and a mix of outside directors and family members on the board. The second configuration is the combination of less than 100% family ownership and low family involvement in management.

The study builds on and extends the nascent work suggesting the integration of agency and stewardship theories. The authors show that these two theoretical approaches are able to not only coexist, but that they can also be complementary in helping to understand the unique workplace social behaviors of family firms.

The purpose of this paper is to understand how family businesses (FBs) build their collective identity through transgenerational narratives. The authors examine the processes through which organizational meanings are socially constructed through narratives about individuals who are closely linked to the organizations (and their family).

Based on qualitative research, the authors study a 180-year old Spanish Pharmaceutical FB. Using longitudinal data, the authors analyze the narratives of six family members and two non-family executives. The authors use open-ended questions to allow interviewees to elaborate their own stories, following previous studies using extended narratives that leave the stage to the narrator.

Findings based on the stories of the eight interviewees (voice) suggest that the FB identity was initiated by the founder’s way to grow the business (fictionality). In turn the family shaped the identity of the FB, being reshaped by the stories arising from next generations’ entry into the business (reflexivity). While the FB identity reflects that of the owners, this identity is enduring but dynamic (temporality), not only shaped by the business family behind, but also conditioned by the environment.

The authors contribute to the growing literature adopting a narrative method to study phenomena in FBs. Thanks to the richness of the empirical material, a narrative method is particularly suited – and novel – for understanding collective identity, a crucial organizational resource that is closely linked to leadership in the FB.

This paper highlights the importance of understanding family firms in different contexts. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the characteristics and behavior of family firms in Ibero-America, and their contribution and fit to the broader field of research. Based on the five articles in this special issue, this paper attempts to give an overview of their main contributions.

This paper explains in a contextual and analytical way the contributions of five papers that focus their attention on Ibero-American family firms, by linking them to the current research in the field and finding their fit within the broader field of family business. Tackling different topics, these five papers discuss about the comparison between family vs non-family businesses, innovation in family firms, and governance in family firms

Findings suggest that there is a need to stimulate research in family business in Ibero-America, especially Latin America, regarding family business dynamics, the different roles of the family within the enterprise, family governance, and the role of women. With regards to innovation the cultural and economic context play an important role in how they perform innovative activities.

This paper contributes to further understanding family firms by discussing the importance of the context and by linking all five papers with the broader literature in family business. The introduction also discusses topics worth to be further researched in Ibero-America.

Este artículo destaca la importancia de entender las empresas familiares en diferentes contextos. El objetivo, por tanto, es reflexionar sobre las características y el comportamiento de las empresas familiares en Ibero-America, y su contribución y encaje en el amplio campo de investigación de la empresa familiar. Basado en los cinco artículos de este número especial, este trabajo intenta dar una visión general sobre sus principales contribuciones.

Este documento explica de manera contextual y analítica las contribuciones de cinco artículos que centran su atención en las empresas familiares iberoamericanas, vinculándolos y buscando el encaje en la investigación existente en el campo de la empresa familiar. Estos cinco documentos discuten sobre la comparación entre las empresas familiares frente a las no familiares, la innovación, y las estructuras de gobierno.

El análisis sugiere la necesidad de estimular la investigación en la empresa familiar en Iberoamérica, especialmente en América Latina, sobre temas de dinámica empresarial de la familia, los diferentes roles de la familia dentro de la empresa, el gobierno familiar , y el papel de las mujeres . Con respecto a la innovación el contexto cultural y económico juega un papel importante en la forma en que realizan sus actividades de innovación.

Este trabajo contribuye a la comprensión de empresas familiares en un determinado contexto, vinculando las cinco publicaciones con la literatura más amplia en la empresa familiar. La introducción también sugiere temas a investigar más en profundidad en Iberoamérica.

This paper seeks to shed light on how core values are successfully transmitted in family businesses via narratives.

A qualitative‐interpretive approach is used. Data were collected through in‐depth interviews made to 17 family members from three family businesses of different ages, sizes, industries, and generations in control. The richness of these interviews, besides its depth and length, emerges from the complete picture formed by the comparison of the stories told by different generations.

Results suggest that narratives are a powerful device for transmitting values through generations. By telling stories, family businesses are able to build identity and shared meanings which led to successful performance in terms of revenues, reputation, shared identity, and continuity of the family business history.

This paper is exploratory. Further studies focusing on failure in transmitting values could enhance and expand emerging results. Deepening on values transmission may be a key research opportunity for general conceptualization.

The paper raises interesting issues for the family business literature within the context of values, an important yet understudied topic in the field. It also contributes to narrative theory by highlighting the usefulness of narratives as a vehicle for values transmission.

In this issue there are seven published research articles originating from Argentina, Spain, Chile and Mexico. The subjects of the articles are varied: first, the best performance determinants of banks in eight South American countries; second, the determinant factors of short term bank‐debt policies of companies, particularly the effect of growth opportunities, the ownership structure of companies and the institutional surrounding; third, the use of personal loans instead of institutional loans in small and medium size companies; fourth, the impact of the economic groups characteristics on the performance of its companies and the benefit of groups to the economy; fifth, the priorities of the companies in the use of logistic services within the supply chain; sixth, the impact of the corporate responsibility in the image and loyalty in hotel brands; seventh, the entrepreneurial intention when starting up a new company and the determinants of his perception on advantages and disadvantages of undertaking the venture.

En este número se publican siete artículos de investigación originados en Argentina, España, Chile y México. Los temas de los artículos son variados: 1‐ Los determinantes del mejor desempeño de los bancos en ocho países latinoamericanos. 2‐ Los condicionantes del plazo de vencimiento de la deuda bancaria de las empresas, en particular el efecto de oportunidades de crecimiento, la estructura de propiedad de la empresa, y el entorno institucional. 3‐ El uso de préstamos personales en lugar de institucionales en las empresas pequeñas y medianas. 4‐ El impacto de las características de los grupos económicos en el desempeño de las empresas y en el beneficio de la economía en conjunto. 5‐ Las prioridades de las empresas en el uso de servicios logísticos dentro de la cadena de suministro. 6‐ El impacto de la responsabilidad corporativa en la imagen y lealtad de marca de los hoteles. 7‐ La intención de emprender y los determinantes de la percepción sobre sus ventajas y desventajas.

Six research papers are published on this issue: three on finances, two regarding public administration and one on business economy. They come from six countries and ten universities. The first paper analyses the effect of a new platform for transactions in the Colombian stock exchange. The second studies the factors that influence the capital structure of the non‐financial companies that quote in the stock market of Lima. The third studies a sample of Brazilian coffee growers in order to determine the influence of attitudes and behaviours in their price risk management decisions. The fourth studies the relation between financial stress, decentralisation and outsourcing of public local services in Spain, by particularly taking into account the length of the financial stress, the effectiveness of the measures taken to attenuate it and the lapse between the crisis and an answer based on the portion of privatisation and decentralisation of the public services. The fifth explores the Chilean small and medium businesses determinants that from their beginnings are orientated towards the global international market. Lastly, the concepts of marketing services and higher education are used to analyse the evaluations of professors given by Mexican university students. The journal is shifting towards a new electronic platform. It will begin to be trimestral in the year 2015 and will continue to broaden its net of Associate Editors.

En este número publicamos seis artículos de investigación: tres en finanzas, dos en administración pública, y uno en economía de negocios, provenientes de seis países y diez universidades. El primer artículo analiza el efecto de una nueva plataforma para las transacciones en la bolsa de valores de Colombia. El segundo, estudia los factores que influyen en la estructura de capital de las empresas no financieras que cotizan en el mercado de valores de Lima. El tercero, estudia una muestra de cultivadores de café brasileños para determinar la influencia de las actitudes y comportamientos en sus decisiones de gestión del riesgo del precio. El cuarto, estudia la relación entre estrés financiero, descentralización y contratación externa de servicios públicos locales en España, particularmente al enfocarse en la consideración de la duración del estrés financiero, la efectividad de las medidas tomadas para atenuarlo, y el lapso entre la crisis y una respuesta basada en la opción de privatización y descentralización de servicios públicos. El quinto explora los determinantes de que las pequeñas y medianas empresas chilenas desde el principio estén orientadas al mercado global internacional. Finalmente, se utilizan conceptos del mercadeo de servicios y la educación superior para el análisis de las evaluaciones de los profesores por parte de los estudiantes universitarios mexicanos. La revista está migrando a una nueva plataforma electrónica, pasará a ser trimestral en el año 2015 y se continúa ampliando la red de Editores Asociados.

The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss a critical review of the role of rhetoric and narratives in management research and practice.

Conceptual implications are drawn from the analysis and discussion of the papers of this special issue, as well as from previous literature.

Managers and researchers will be unable to explore the potential of narratives and stories fully if, at the same time, they do not deeply comprehend the underpinnings of rhetoric.

The paper further discusses the role of rhetoric and narratives in management research and practice and also explores the relationships between rhetoric and narratives.