Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to define a new combined model of business valuation for family firm, considering the implications of IC. The role of the family component in business valuation is condensed into the continuity of a trans-generational perspective. The question appears to be centred on the consistency of the familiness link with respect to the economic entity. In other words, it becomes essential to understand the provisional character of the proactive action of family members on business performance levels. After having discussed some of critical theoretical opinions on the peculiar aspects of family business—with particular attention to the relationship between the contribution of cognitive resources inferable from the familiness in the company management and the propensity to create value by the company itself—the aim is to find the most appropriate method to enhance the specificity of the family business and express the size of the equity value in a neutral and objective manner. The methodology is deductive; the integrated model is structured starting from the general framework of business valuation and then proceeds with its adaptation to familiness, intended as a particular attestation of IC. In this way, a new integrated model is made available for a subsequent step of empirical implementation and validation through its application in a family organization. The main advantage of this model is the ability to measure and manage IC and financial/non-financial performance. The added value of this work will enrich the academic literature regarding IC measurement systems in family firms; it also provides an original integrated model that is able to exhibit the advantages highlighted above.
Highlights
The implications of a firm’s family component for creating value are considerable; they expand the observation beyond the simple presence of family members within the ownership structure and focus on their ability to instil in the operational management the idea that ‘family nature’ is a certification of a specific brand and a source of competitive advantage [1, 2].Discordant views have emerged in the literature on the various issues concerning family business, on whether characteristic business elements have been analyzed, or on the interrelations that exist between family and business [3]
Everything appears instrumental in estimating the intangible resources, included in the broader concept of intellectual capital; the IC will be the primary source of value creation and sustainable competitive advantage for the examined economic entities [9, 10]
There will be a recognition of such intangibles— to what happens to intellectual capital [37] through the signing up of a specific asset in the balance sheet, which is economically justifiable by the link deriving from the synergies/behaviour of family members with obtainable prospective income results [38]
Summary
The implications of a firm’s family component for creating value are considerable; they expand the observation beyond the simple presence of family members within the ownership structure and focus on their ability to instil in the operational management the idea that ‘family nature’ is a certification of a specific brand and a source of competitive advantage [1, 2].Discordant views have emerged in the literature on the various issues concerning family business, on whether characteristic business elements have been analyzed, or on the interrelations that exist between family and business [3]. Assuming that the influence of familiness on the historical, current, and future income levels are accepted, opinions about its relevance to the firm’s equity value will be justifiable, helping distinguish this last concept from the broader business strategic value [6, 7]. In this scenario, adequate performance measurement methods will have to be identified; these will be necessary to facilitate the implementation of the strategies and improve the levels of the achievable economic results [8]. Everything appears instrumental in estimating the intangible resources, included in the broader concept of intellectual capital; the IC will be the primary source of value creation and sustainable competitive advantage for the examined economic entities [9, 10]
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