La comunicación como factor de éxito en la Empresa Familiar. Análisis de 40 testimonios del empresariado sobre aspectos clave de la gestión / Communication as a success factor in the Family Business. Analysis of 40 entrepreneur’s testimonials about key as

Abstract

La Empresa Familiar, como fenómeno que explica el dinamismo económico de los países, ha sido estudiada desde diversos puntos de vista, destacando entre ellos el de la Sucesión, el Gobierno Corporativo o los factores que condicionan su Competitividad. En cambio, son muy escasos los estudios relativos a la visión que estas organizaciones tienen sobre la Comunicación y su incidencia en la consecución del éxito.

El presente estudio se plantea como objetivo principal determinar si el concepto de Comunicación es considerado por los empresarios familiares como un factor clave de éxito dentro de su visión general sobre gestión y estrategia. Asimismo, intenta desentrañar la visión que tienen los empresarios sobre el campo de la Comunicación a partir de los términos relacionados con esta materia que más emplean en sus testimonios. Finalmente, el trabajo procede a caracterizar los distintos roles que confieren estos líderes empresariales a la Comunicación desde el punto de vista instrumental, en tanto que herramienta que contribuye a resolver aspectos concretos de la gestión.

La investigación se fundamenta en una revisión de la literatura generada por los estudiosos dentro del campo de los Recursos Intangibles y la Reputación Empresarial, y se detiene además en los análisis que se refieren al fenómeno conocido con el nombre de Empresa Familiar. A partir de este marco teórico, se plantea un trabajo de campo que toma como objeto de investigación los relatos o testimonios de los cuarenta empresarios que se recogen en los dos volúmenes que conforman la obra de KPMG titulada Los que dejan huella. Para su estudio, se emplean técnicas de análisis de contenido y de análisis del discurso.

Palabras clave: comunicación, relaciones públicas, recursos intangibles, reputación, marca, empresa familiar.

Abstract

The Family Business, as a phenomenon that explains the economic dynamism of the countries, has been studied from several points of view, standing out among them the Succession, the Corporate Governance or the factors that condition its Competitiveness. On the other hand, there are fewer specific studies about organization´s vision relating Communication Management and its impact on the achievement of success.

The study aims to determine whether the concept of communication is considered by family entrepreneurs as a key success factor within their general vision of management and strategy. And subject to it, it tries to unravel the vision that businessmen and businesswomen have in the field of Communication from the terms related to this matter that they use most in their testimonies. Likewise, the work proceeds to characterize the different roles that these business leaders confer on Communication from the instrumental point of view, as a tool that contributes to solving specific aspects of management.

The research is based on a review of the literature generated by scholars in the field of Intangible Resources and Business Reputation. It´s also focused on the analysis referred to the phenomenon known as the Family Business. From this theoretical framework, the object of study is based on the stories or testimonies of the forty businessmen collected over almost 800 pages in the two volumes that set up the work of KPMG entitled Those who leave their mark. The content and speech analysis techniques are used for their study.

The work confirms the importance of Communication in the transmission of the values ​​that guide the activity of companies and make a difference with respect to their key competitors; hence, the intangibles that contribute to the configuration of business reputation. Likewise, based on the businessmen's own testimonies, the instrumental functions that businessmen confer on Communication for the achievement of    their corporate and business objectives are identified.

As highlight in the study, the management of business intangibles is one of the latest and most important innovations in modern business management, and its leading role is the result of the evolution of strategic management towards new value niches within companies and its Communication´s development. Besides, in recent years, Communication has shifted its focus from the product to the brand, image and reputation of the companies.

Furthermore, within the resources included in the category of intangibles, reputation has become the real territory in which companies compete to win the favor of their clients and consolidate their position in the markets. This relevance acquired by reputation has led some authors to speak of the “reputation economy” to refer to the new economic and social paradigm in which we find ourselves.

Keywords: communication, public relations, intangible resources, reputation, brand, family business.