Women in Latin American family businesses: an institutional logics perspective

Abstract

PurposeThe authors conceptually theorize the obstacles and opportunities that women encounter in family businesses embedded in Latin America, by differentiating between two clusters of countries embedded in this continent.Design/methodology/approachUsing secondary data obtained from various sources, the authors adopted a flexible pattern matching methodology, which involves linking theoretical propositions with actual observed patterns. For each proposition, the authors categorize the comparison with the observed data as either confirming or rivaling the expected patterns in the clusters.FindingsThis study’s findings reveal that women have more leadership and employment opportunities in the first cluster (Brazil, Chile, and Mexico) than in the second (Argentina, Colombia, and Peru). The authors propose that these differences are the result of higher tolerance for women in political leadership positions and of the presence of larger and more internationally expanding corporations in the first cluster. We also find differences between two groups of women: female family members and female nonfamily members, with the former being granted much more opportunities than the latter.Practical implicationsThis research increases the understanding of potential avenues for managers and policymakers in Latin America to foster gender diversity as a means to remain competitive in a global market. While actions at the state level may be more long-term oriented, others, such as those taken by small and medium-sized family businesses may have more immediate effects in minimizing gender biases and encouraging a greater participation of females in business.Originality/valueBy differentiating between two clusters of countries in Latin America, and by making careful consideration of whether females have family ties, the authors provide a more realistic and contextualized theoretical map that depicts the situation of women in Latin American family businesses. This contextualization is one of the first that attempts to examine how multiple institutional logics impact women in family businesses in an underexplored region of the world while differentiating between female family members and female nonfamily members. These findings inform policymakers and family business owners in Latin America on the peculiar challenges that women encounter in their context, while calling for more measures promote the active presence of females in Latin American family businesses.

The mediating role of organizational culture between transformational leadership and organizational performance in SMEs

“…The study's results allow for exploring other mediating factors, such as job satisfaction, employee engagement or innovation (Norena-Chavez and Romani Torres, 2024;Zafar and Mehmood, 2019). In addition, cross-cultural comparison studies could allow verifying if relationships are maintained (Chang et al, 2017;Samara and Lapeira, 2022).…”

“…The entrepreneurship phenomenon maintains a growing trend in Latin America, where women's participation is relevant (Samara and Lapeira, 2022). It is critical to bring entrepreneurs more insights about TF, OC and OP to increase their possibilities to survive in the long term (Abdullah et al, 2015;Zafar and Mehmood, 2019).…”

“…In addition, cross-cultural comparison studies could allow verifying if relationships are maintained (Chang et al. , 2017; Samara and Lapeira, 2022).…”

“…Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have an active role in countries' economies due to their contribution to GDP and employment (Borrero et al, 2020;Zhu and Huang, 2023). In developing countries, as well as in Latin America, SMEs have a growing trend (Samara and Lapeira, 2023). Due to the current more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environments, SMEs face many challenges, especially those related to lack of quality resources, productivity and technology management (Ghobakhloo and Iranmanesh, 2021;Peña and Caruajulca, 2021;Soltysova and Modrak, 2020).…”

Timing the transition: gender diversity’s role in family IPOs

“…invisibility; Martinez Jimenez, 2009; informal roles more related to the family than to the business; Eddleston and Sabil, 2019) and opportunities (e.g. flexible schedules or access to sectors traditionally considered masculine; Martinez Jimenez, 2009; more employment opportunities, Samara and Lapeira, 2023) in family businesses, which emphasizes the need to shed light on the role of women in such companies. In particular, as one of the main sources of board heterogeneity (Simpson et al.…”