Abstract
Abstract The paper examines family business foundations as connectors between the firm and the family from which they originate, adopting a coevolution approach that considers family and business as two subsystems which coevolve in creating a different species, the family business. Foundations are seen as coevolution facilitators supporting the coevolution process, outlining a specific grow path for family firms, and ensuring family business sustainability. An empirical analysis on Italian family business foundations is developed. The Italian context is taken into consideration because family firms are the backbone of the Italian economy, and the largest family foundations are those created by the most important entrepreneurial families. Data bring to light the structural role played by family business foundations in Italy and their involvement in the field of culture and art, research and training, health care, and territorial responsibility. The analysis shows the growth of family business foundations in recent years and their connection with long-lived companies with whom a close connection is maintained, leading to a lasting intergenerational sustainability.
Highlights
The pace of growth of foundations linked to family businesses leads to the investigation of the extent of the phenomenon to understand their distinctive characteristics and the prospects for value creation
The contribution investigates on family business foundations that are foundations originating from family businesses and owning characteristics both of corporate foundations and family foundations
Business foundations are analyzed as connectors between the company and the family from which they originate, adopting a coevolution approach that considers family and business as two subsystems, which coevolve in creating a different species, the family business
Summary
The pace of growth of foundations linked to family businesses leads to the investigation of the extent of the phenomenon to understand their distinctive characteristics and the prospects for value creation. The object of analysis are foundations that originate from a family business, here called family business foundations, not much explored by researchers and here analyzed as tools for the continuity and persistence of the family firm over time. It is a well-defined set of organizations deriving from the intersection between the set of corporate foundations and that of family foundations. We refer to foundations born from the desire of acquiring ‘high net worth individual’ (HNWI) status, i.e., people with high net worth not necessarily resulting from the activity of a family business
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