Death and entrepreneuring in family businesses: a complexity and stewardship perspective

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive information of entrepreneurial families interviewed.

Family	Business portfolio	Size (employees)	First business founded	Number of businesses currently in the portfolio	Latest business founded	Family members interviewed	Generation	Number of initial interviews 2006^a, 2010^b	Follow-up interviews 2016c, 2020/2021d	Total interviews
Educators	Retail, education, hospitality	80	1960	3	2017	Luisa	1^st	2^ab	1^c	3
						Santiago	2^nd	2^ab	2 ^cd	4
						Mateo	2^nd	2^ab	2 ^cd	4
						Nicolas	2^nd	2^ab	1^d	3
						Martina	2^nd	2^ab	2 ^cd	4
Chemists	Shoemaking, chemical products, generic pharmaceuticals	45	1972	3	2016	Carmen	1st	2^ab	1^d	3
						Brenda	2nd	2^ab	2 ^cd	4
						Samanta	2nd	2^ab	2 ^cd	4
						Tomas	2nd	2^ab	2 ^cd	4
Manufacturers	Garment manufacturing, security services, retail, plastic manufacturing	70	1974	4	2018	Ivette	1st	2^ab	1c	3
						Franco	2nd	2^ab	2 ^cd	4
						Diego	2nd	2^ab	1^d	3
						Renata	2nd	2^ab	2 ^cd	4
Builders	Civil engineering, plant hire, residential real estate development	60	1973	3	2017	Marcela	1st	2^ab	1^d	3
						Irene	2nd	2^ab	2 ^cd	4
						Amelia	2nd	2^ab	1^d	3
						Sergio	2nd	2^ab	2 ^cd	4

Table 2. Social processes of entrepreneuring, focusing on reorganization of the family system.

Empirical data	Description	Thematic categorization	Thematic interpretation	Theoretical implication
‘ … I recall my dad telling he may not have much time left and that he knew how good I was with numbers. He wanted to help overview our annual report and to help my brother figure out the finance reports for his business plan and then discuss it for the family. That was something he always did! How could I say no? I was already working as chief accountant for this international company so I could incorporate new guidelines into the report, which I knew my family would appreciate’. (Martina, 2016, Educators)	Dying member requesting surviving member to support the existing firm and the entrepreneurial effort	Application of skills and knowledge to engage in the entrepreneurial effort	Entrepreneurial action requires skills, knowledge and abilities and allows assuming a new role	Reorganization of functions and roles
‘ … it was not easy to break down the news for the children, no one wants to hear that their dad has a terminal condition. I wanted to be in business and help to get her real estate business going, but I had to take care of my husband. So I did a small coffee gathering and told them what the doctors said and what I would do. Some could not hold back their tears, while others I knew would keep composed. One by one they just said, “Mom I will do this and that to help, look after Dad”. They knew their father would be proud of that’. (Marcela, Builders, 2010)	Surviving member of senior generation requesting support for the entrepreneurial effort	Application of skills and knowledge to engage in the entrepreneurial effort	Entrepreneurial action requires skills, knowledge, and abilities, and allows assumption of a new role
‘. I was always the one who handled good transportation and storage … I was trusted with the family goods let’s say, so when Dad got ill, Mom approached me and said, can you help us with that now in the existing firm? I knew my sister was also starting a new business with Mom and Dad so I offered to take a look at their logistics plan … they did not ask me for but I knew that they really wanted me to. It will help my dad and sister a lot to get that business on the go. It was not easy for me to think that Dad would not be there as his condition worsened but I knew what I was good at and how I could help both our business and my sister’. (Brenda, Chemists, 2016)	Surviving member of the senior generation hints that measures and control need to be implemented for the stability of existing firms	Measures implemented prior to death of the leading member to minimize complexity	Entrepreneurial action needed to support existing businesses, shifting function of the surviving member
‘ … it was difficult to go through my dad’s illness, yet after we shed tears in our offices we also discussed how to improve the business and what could be done to start the new one. I showed them the calculations I had made and what we needed to do. These meetings helped us after Dad died as we did not have to start from zero … ’ (Nicolas, Educators, 2016)	Interactions of surviving family members supported discussions for entrepreneurship later on	Definition of roles prior to death of the family member	Allocation of roles is supported by prior interaction, allowing a shift in the family system facilitating collective engagement
‘ … After Dad died we all knew what we needed to do. There was really little discussion or doubt on the role we had in the process. I did not need to make a logistic analysis for the new firm as my brother would do that. I needed to focus on the financial aspects. That was how we have operated since, with each one knowing their place’. (Renata, Manufacturers, 2016)	Interactions of surviving family members supported discussions for entrepreneurship later on	Definition of roles following death of the family member	Allocation of roles is supported by prior interaction, allowing a collective approach

Table 3. Social processes of entrepreneuring, focusing on the recalibration of the family system.

Empirical data	Description	Thematic categorization	Thematic interpretation	Theoretical implication
‘ … we all reacted differently to the news of Dad’s illness, we did not know what to make of it, I mean he was my mentor. We had to get clear facts about what to expect with this condition and to get the hard facts, how long could he be with us. What memories would we keep, how could we make him proud in business … on his last days we all took turns to look after him. It bounded us in sadness because we could feel what was coming but also made us realize that we could go through it together not only here but also in business’. (Mateo, Educators, 2016)	Different reactions by family members to news of the terminal illness of a leading member of the family in business	Searching for new point of reference based on shared experiences	Family members sharing experiences prior to death of family members develop shared reference points for entrepreneurship	Recalibration of the approach to the entrepreneurial process
‘ … Dad loved photography, and he used to tell us a story of how he made a small business out of it. We all knew the story and at times we reminded him of it when he was going for treatment. He always reminded us of how to use what we had at hand to create a venture, we all knew then how those instructions would help us later on’. (Sergio, Builders, 2010)	Dying member of the senior generation shares knowledge and insights from previous entrepreneurial efforts	Knowledge sharing allows the development of shared points of reference	Shared understandings by family members on how to use available family resources facilitates entrepreneurial engagement
‘. When Dad died, I was really in shock, and all I wanted to do was not to forget the million lessons he taught us because he would no longer be with us to see that new business starting. I wanted to make something out of these memories and put them to practice as soon as I could. It bonded us as a family and we wanted to have an opportunity to prove it. After the funeral I was impatient because I was sad but my siblings comforted me and said ‘we will act on this and create that new business in Dad’s memory, let’s just allow us to mourn for now’. (Tomas, Chemists, 2016)	Surviving member of the senior generation aims to apply insight from the dying member in business	Shared understanding as to rely on insights from the dying member in business	Entrepreneurial action was guided by interest to apply knowledge gathered from prior interactions
‘ … after Dad died and we decided to create a new firm, we found ourselves thinking “what would my father do in this situation?”. It was like a filter for decisions, and it helped us sometimes but not all the time, as we also had to rely on our own knowledge … ’ (Franco, Manufacturers, 2016)	Surviving members rely on knowledge from the deceased member to evaluate information in the entrepreneurial process	Surviving generation revises their approach to evaluating opportunities based on the deceased member’s insights	Entrepreneurial action guided by insight from the deceased member and combined with surviving generation skills and knowledge

Table 4. Social processes of entrepreneuring, focusing on the reconnection of the family system.

Empirical data	Description	Thematic categorization	Thematic interpretation	Theoretical implication
‘ … my husband wanted us to reconnect as a family, we had just stopped meeting because of the business and how busy we were … . Birthdays had a different meaning then and he took every opportunity to try to bring the family together again. I guess that is why his family was coming too, to say goodbye but also to let us know we could have their support in business’. (Luisa,, Educators, 2020)	Surviving member of the senior generation describes the interest of the deceased member to create opportunities to reconnect with extended family	Reconnection with the extended family	Restoration of relationships would help in gathering the support of family in the entrepreneurial process	Reconnection with diverse networks
‘ … I did not want to see my cousins, they were mean and bullies when we were children. We attended different schools and in different cities, so we never had a chance to meet again until it was Christmas or a birthday. But this time it was different, I saw a different side of the coin, as they loved my dad. They told us about their professional positions and that they could help us at any time when we needed it. My father asked them that. It was hard to think that all that time was wasted in meaningless child fights. Yet there was now a change to restore that time with family’. (Irene, Builders, 2016)	Dying member of the senior generation requests support from the extended family for the surviving members in business	Restoration of relationships that could be beneficial in the entrepreneurial process	Restoration of relationships would help in gathering the support of family in the entrepreneurial process
‘. After my husband died we wanted to meet with family and also our friends in business. They were constantly calling to have us for dinner or lunch. The next couple of years allowed us to attend most celebrations and gave us a chance for them to know what we were doing to look after what my husband left behind. They provide a lot of support and mention how they remember what my husband did in business and admire that we continue to work together. We continue to meet with them but now with social distancing’.. (Carmen, Chemists, 2021)	Surviving member of the senior generation aims to continue reconnecting with family members following the spouse’s death	Continuity of family relationships following death	Entrepreneurial action was supported based on the continuity of family rituals
‘ … it was funny that friends of my dad, who had manufacturing businesses as well, were telling me hilarious anecdotes after he died. I guess that is how they remember him and wanted to be connected with us. We knew that we could contact them, as they came to us at the funeral and wanted us to know that they would help us in business. We kept in touch and a couple of years later we approached them for advice with this new business idea [plastic manufacturing]. They put us in touch with people that really helped us get the new enterprise going. This was reassuring because we needed experts that we could not find through family, and also people we could trust’. (Diego, Manufacturers, 2016)	Surviving members nurture the close relationships started by the deceased member and leverage them for business purposes.	Surviving generations looks after deceased members relationships in diverse networks.	Entrepreneurial action supported by relationships outside the family circle

Figure 1. Entrepreneuring influenced by the death of a leading family member and family transitions. Adapted from Anderson (2000, 209).

Anderson, Alistair R. 2000. “The Protean Entrepreneur: The Entrepreneurial Process as Fitting Self and Circumstance.” Journal of Enterprising Culture 08 (3): 201–234. 10.1142/S0218495800000127.

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