Emergence of Familiness and Family Owned Business Performance: The Case of Myanmar

This article explores the concept of familiness in family-owned businesses (FOBs), identifying how families generate their own resources for business performance. Applying the resource-based view, the authors examined seven Myanmar businesses. Findings revealed that two factors influence familiness in Myanmar FOB: family unity and internal governance systems, which can be subdivided into traditional and collective systems. Moreover, evaluation revealed that FOB's business performance was affected by different family attitudes. A combination of family unity and a traditional internal governance system was conducive to controlling the internal business capabilities, whereas creating external opportunities were considered more effective for a combination of family unity and a collective internal governance system. Findings suggest that familiness emerges through embedded family resources that incorporates a sense of awareness with abilities for business advantages. These empirical results can provide insights and inputs that can help small and medium-sized FOBs safeguard their future.