Measuring familiness in private family firms: A bayesian network model

Resumen

The objective of this analysis was to identify the causality among variables that originate the highest level of familiness in private family firms. The Bayesian Networks (BN) theory was applied to measure the effectiveness of resources and capabilities provided by the family members within a family business to understand causal relations among variables by using probabilistic reasoning throughout a graphic. Re­sults showed that if salary of family members was higher than salary of employees in the same position, if family members shared information among themselves, and if family firms presented family-employee bonds, there was an 83%, 70%, and 79% of probability of having a high level familiness, respectively. The limitation of the study is that any modification in the BN might show different outcomes. These findings expand the knowledge on family business discipline and suggest a path for family business’ leaders to increase familiness. If family firms want to strengthen their competitive advantage, the main variables they should focus, among all the resources and capabilities that represent familiness, are salaries of family members, sharing information, and family-employee bonds.