A evolução dos conflitos no conselho de administração e sua influência nas empresas familiares brasileiras

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the evolution and impact of conflicts on the boards of directors of family businesses. For this thesis, three interconnected and complementary studies on the theme were carried out. Initially, there is a bibliometric study, in order to understand the intellectual structure and trends of studies focused on boards of directors in family companies, carried out through the analysis of citations, co-quotations and pairing. In the second study, an examination of the patterns and evolution of conflicts in the boards of directors is carried out. In the third study, there was an analysis of how conflicts between members of the board of directors impact the decisions of family businesses. The empirical studies were carried out based on the analysis of the content of the board meetings, from 2012 to 2016, of a large family-owned company, headquartered in Brazil. The analysis also included recordings of two full meetings, verifying the impacts of conflicts on the board decisions. This research contributes, mainly, to understand the evolution of the conflict in the context of family business councils, with dual function, difference in degree of ownership between family nuclei, as which have a family-property and family-business-property interface. The first study, allowed to identify the integrative theories and multi theoretical approaches that are being studied, and the relation with the main works about the conflicts in the boards of directors and similar subjects for the foundation and direction of the following studies. The second study, showed that the conflicts seem to emerge more strongly among representatives of the highest and lowest degree of ownership, disaggregated by the search for control and independence in relation to assets, and by the search and demonstration of power, in addition to inter-family conflicts, that can evolve from tasks conflicts to emotional conflicts, but eventually they can be moderated. It also contributes to the problem of the agency, involving two nuclei of families with dual functions. The third study showed that important decisions are postponed, even if they put the business performance at risk. This occurs, mainly, when it depends on consensus on different family nuclei, and when they diminish or threaten the power in relation to the company. In the relation of the tasks conflicts that evolve to the emotional conflicts, there are evidence that it is postpone and hinders the decisions and that the role of external counselors was fundamental in the search for a solution. This integrative structure offers a comprehension to explore the evolution of conflict on the board, and this approach, based on real problems, offers some guidelines for practice, and can assist the companies in better conflicts understanding and managing. The studies present some limitations. The first study presented a temporal delimitation, with articles collected until 2019, and the exploration of a single base, Web of Science. The second and third studies, presented usual limitations, by examining a single business group and by analyzing documents, considering the complexity of working on the cognitive aspects. But in this case, the richness of details transcribed and highlighted, is a differential, allowing the understanding and reliability of the analyzes. There is a large margin for future researches on this topic, and this study may encourage new investigations in family businesses, considering other variables, or even the replication of studies to verify the consistency of the results over time.