Institutionalism and the Influence of the Cultural Values of the Family Subsystem on the Management of the Small‐Medium Family Firms

The current work advances and tests an explanation for the flow of values in small–medium family firms from the owning family subsystem to the management. This is an aspect that has so often been mentioned but so rarely been analysed empirically. Our objective has been accomplished using as explanatory theoretical framework the main arguments of systems theory and institutionalism, starting from the consideration of the family as one of the agents with most influence in the institutional environment of the family firm. Specifically, we have empirically demonstrated significant differences in seven out of 10 values considered determinants of family strength, thereby demonstrating the ultimate responsibility of the owning families in the higher intensity of certain values in family firms.