Decoding Family Togetherness : How Familial Bonds Shape the Family Business

Sustaining the family business has been a core concern of family business scholars (Le Breton-Miller & Miller, 2016). Long-term survival of business is possible only when the owner family sustains as a cohesive unit. For this, strong family bonding is critical. Family ties have been probed in literature but in a fragmented manner. Moreover, the theories of family cohesion or socioemotional wealth consider family ties purely as a phenomenon of the family sub-system and examine their effect on business outcomes. We assimilate the disparate literature on familiality and conceptualize a coherent whole, termed, ‘Family Togetherness.’ We define family togetherness as the capability of the owner family to operate as a cohesive unit across both the family and business contexts. It is a ‘supra-entity’ determined by the constituent dimensions from the complex whole of the family and business sub-systems. These dimensions are rooted in the operational and governance practices followed in both the sub-systems. Using confirmatory factor analysis based on 279 survey responses from family business leaders in India, this study identifies six dimensions of family togetherness: i.e., Professionalism, Commitment, Mutual Respect, Complexity, Shared Vision, and Nurturance. The paper also discusses the implications and concludes with suggestions for future research