DISSERTATIONS - 2014

THE MEANING OF WEALTH FOR THE FIRST AND FOR THE SECOND GENERATION FAMILY BUSINESS: A JUNGIAN APPROACH WITH CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE SYSTEMIC THEORY

Maria Lyana Frota Aragão

Advisor: Liliana Liviano Wahba.
Key words: Family business, wealth, heritage, transmission of attitudes, family complexes, invisible loyalties.

Abstract: This research seeks to understand the meaning assigned subjectively to the material wealth in two generations of parents and children in the family business and to investigate the value assigned to construction and enjoyment of this wealth, including the transmission of attitudes towards heritage and how different generation deal with money. Twenty family business members, ten members of the first generation and ten members of the second generation, were interviewed using a semi-structured interview. It was observed that both generations converge as the rise of heritage as a result of years of pioneering vision and the workforce of the founders; agree that this wealth should be used prudently. For both generations there is need for constant investment in the enterprise so that this financial resource extends and there is the hope that the quality of life, comfort and education remain. The need for professionalization is another commonality between generations. The meaning of wealth for each of the generations differ in some points: the founders tend to use the assets more sparingly targeting wellness and comfort, and the heirs express wishes and audacious expectations, as have some assets, seek personal and professional development and wish to own other trades so as not to depend on the family business. It became apparent the transmission of attitudes, such as the behavior of limiting access to wealth from one generation to another, reinforcing the value of the conquest of goods for own merits. We notice that the founders have expectations that their children take the business but, at the same time, demonstrate fear of loss of power that can lead this movement. Charges and mandates permeate some discourses through which one can infer the existence of paternal and complex power struggles in relationships. Parents identify with the figure of guiding, while the children feel the duty to continue the business and guarantee its expansion, being loyal to family expectations; however, at the same time, there is the desire not to get stuck to family mandates, seeking a space of autonomy and independence, in the family business or outside of it.