Creating value across generations in family-controlled businesses: The role of family social capital

This article explores the processes through which family-controlled businesses (FCBs) access and recombine resources to match the evolving needs of their business activities. We do so by applying the conceptual lens offered by social capital to the comparative study of four FCBs active in traditional competitive arenas. Our data reveal that these firms'ability to create financial value over generations does not result from possession of some unique resource, nor from higher-level combinative capabilities; rather, these FCBs have systematically created value through their ability to renew and to reshape their social interactions within and outside the controlling family. © 2008 Family Firm Institute, Inc.