The influence of generational shift on sustainability practices: A preliminary analysis based on text-analysis of “I Centenari’s” websites

Abstract

The generational shift plays a crucial role in the transfer of intangible assets such as family values, reputation, long-term vision and the enterprise’s social responsibility that can be competitive advantages and also helpful for family businesses to achieve long term sustainability. In order to asses in which way family firms demonstrate their commitment to sustainability to both internal and external stakeholders, this paper examines a sample of 25 long-lived family businesses belonging to the Association “I Centenari”. We analyze the historical section of these 25 long-lived family businesses’ websites as a metric for the family business behavior toward the three pillars of sustainability (economic, social and environmental) through the text-analysis program LIWC.