When Being a Family Business Becomes a Competitive Advantage
Family businesses that deliberately activate their 'familiness' — trust, long-term commitment, multigenerational relationships — as strategic assets can build competitive advantages that corporate structures struggle to replicate.
Summary
The authors argue family businesses often underestimate the strategic power of their familial identity, defaulting to corporate professionalization that erodes their most distinctive advantages. A Family-to-Family (F2F) strategy reframes customers and suppliers as multigenerational partners, strengthening loyalty and decision speed. Based on the Vitex case study in Greece.
Key concepts
Family business strategy · familiness · trust-based competitive advantage · F2F strategy · relational rents