The Generational Shift in the Family Business: Defining the Condition to Plan the Intervention

Abstract In Italy, family businesses account for 85% of the national GDP but, frequently, their "health" has been critically at risk at the time of the "generational shift", that is the moment when a business is passed from one generation to another. The Italian Association of Family Businesses, for example, observes that out of 100 Italian family businesses, 50% reach the second generation and only 15% pass onto the third. Due to this, the European Commission (1998-2003) has recom-mended specific studies and a vast amount of literature can be found on the sub-ject. In the first part of this chapter we discuss a review of the literature, focusing par-ticularly on the "generational shift",which can be perceived as a period of "trauma care" or as an opportunity for business development. According to this definition of the generational shift, in the second part of the chapter,we present the consulting phase of an intervention carried out by a training company, and initiatedby an entrepreneur close to retirement. We address the entrepreneur’s criteria in deciding to ask for a company intervention in order to make sense of the relationship between the client, the user and the psychologist. Interviews were conducted with the entrepreneur and the heirs in order to highlight the elements guiding theactors’ interpretation of the situation. The contribution that psychology can offer in a multidisciplinary team is the recognition of these elements in order to redefine the setting with the client.Finally, we discuss the relationship between the health, nomothetic and hydrographic approaches in relation to a case study of the generational shift.