A Note on Family Business Governance in Latin America

<p align= "justify">Many factors influence corporate governance in a family firm, the most prevalent form of business entity in Latin America. National culture affects a family firm's societal values, as well as economic, political, and legal systems of governance. Normative behaviour and expectations are also key factors that affect both individual and organizational norms. The firm’s characteristics are another major source of influence. In addition to these major factors, various other variables play a role on shaping the firm's corporate governance, including family unity, patriarchal expectations, and inclusivity of the family definition. All of these factors can influence the numerous decisions that family businesses make in regard to their corporate governance, which makes it impossible to apply one approach for all family firms in Latin America. Each organization’s board of directors may have specific characteristics that require different mechanisms to make effective governance decisions. This technical note discusses an evolutionary pattern of corporate governance, rather than a single approach, that could be effectively applied to the decision-making board of a family firm in Latin America.

This note is suitable for graduate and executive education courses on strategy, corporate governance, and strategic management. After working through the note and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:<br><ul><li>Understand Latin American business family culture.</li><li>Explore factors that influence family governance choices.</li><li>Understand corporate governance in Latin America.</li><li>Explain what a board is and what it does.</li><li>Illustrate the influence of family involvement for family firm governance.</li><li>Develop an evolutionary model of corporate governance for Latin American family firms.</li></ul>

• family firms, governance, latin america