Table 2.

Case description.

	Case 1	Case 2	Case 3	Case 4	Case 5
Generation	Second generation	Second generation	First generation	Fourth generation	First generation
Family business history	Founded by an entrepreneurial couple. Siblings have developed their career in the company except one who entered later.	The expansion of the company has been co-led by siblings.	Founded by the father and one of the siblings. It has faced a fast growth in three decades. Sibling group has been working together in this expansion process.	Founded by the grandparents and expanded by an entrepreneurial couple and their children.	Founded by the father. A few years later, a non- family manager co-led the growth and shared the ownership of the company. Children also are participating in management and they have contributed to the fast growth that the company faced in the last decade.
Family involvement	The founder is still involved at the Board of Directors. Sibling group co-lead the company.	Earlier involvement of the successors in the company. Members of the cousin group play managerial roles in the company.	Siblings have been involved since the foundation of the company. Siblings are both at the governance and managerial levels of the company.	Siblings play different roles mainly at the governance level. Next generation is involved in the company.	The founder is still involved at the governance level. Siblings play different managerial roles.
Business complexity (Gimeno et al., 2010)	Medium International Around to 250 employees Partial vertically integrated	Medium Local Around 100–150 hundred employees	High International Around 370 employees Partial vertically integrated	High International More than 200 employees Vertically integrated	High International More than 500 employees Vertically integrated
Ownership	Family	Family	Family	Family +non-family	Family + non-family
Succession	The process of succession in management has been successfully completed.	Effective delegation of managerial roles to successor. Facing the transition from second (sibling partnership) to third generation (cousins consortium). Next generation participates in Family Council.	The generation in charge (sibling partnership) is still young to start a succession process.	The process of succession in governance and management has been successfully completed.	Facing the transition between founder stage and sibling partnership. Next generation participates in the Board of Directors.
Conflict	Family harmony	Family conflict Report of a critical incident related to the participation of the next generation in the company.	Family harmony They report the advantages of having controversies in the Advisory board.	Family harmony In the last years they have invested time and resources in improving family communication between siblings (e.g., coaching services).	Family harmony Report of a critical incident regarding the temporal exit of a child of the company in the past
Governance	Informal meetings Board of directors Family protocol	Family Council Board of directors Advisory Board Family protocol	Family Council Board of directors Advisory board Family protocol	Informal family meetings Family Council Board of directors Family protocol	Family Council Board of directors Family protocol
Innovation	Focused on new markets. Innovativeness committee (recent creation) to trigger internal debates around innovation. Collaborative partnerships with start-ups to explore new product and service development.	Focused on new services and markets. Collaborative partnerships with other companies to improve innovation capacities.	Focused on new internal processes. Innovativeness committee (recent creation) lead by external advisors and managers.	Focused on new markets and services. Innovation through tradition (product development rooted in long-lasting entrepreneurial activity-De Massis et al., 2016). Digitalization.	Focused on new services and internal processes. Recruiting of an external Head of innovation.