1 suggested that family firms are often “rich in intangible resources”. The resource-based view allows consideration of an “idiosyncratic, immobile, inimitable, sometimes intangible bundle of resources” that to varying degrees commonly resides in a family firm. Within this view the term “familiness” has been developed and widely accepted to describe the unique bundle of resources held by and particular to family firms as a result of their unique systems, interaction among the family, individual members, and the business itself, leading to positive synergies 2, 3, 4.
According to 5, familiness is a resource that is unique to family firms; it is a specific bundle of attributes derived from a family's culture 6 and a unique form of family culture 7. It is an imperfectly substitutable/exchangeable resource in the manner described by 8. According to 9, it is the set of resources controlled by a firm resulting from a continuous overlap of a family system with the business system in a firm. According to 10, a predecessor and a family have great influence on a successor in terms of cultural values and entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviours.
The authors agree that familiness is closely related to the concept of family business culture. Successful family firms are those which share family culture thereby remaining competitive also after transition between generations. This “effective family culture” is characterized by joined view of the world and a wish to succeed 11. Family members (e.g., successors) who are socialized at home bring this shared culture in the family business. According to 12, this “effective family culture”, provides foundation for familiness in the family firm. Since family culture’s mechanisms are tacit, they are difficult to transfer to outsiders or to persist over family generations. Familiness of the business depends on whether a family succeed to transfer the tacit family culture to the family business. Since a business with more familiness will gain a competitive advantage, such owning family should be more likely to retain the family business within the founding family 13.
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