Cultural Dynamics and Performance of Family Owned Businesses in Anambra State

The over-reliance on patriarchal inheritance culture which seems to inhibit the capacity of Family Owned Businesses (FOBs) to professionalise and its implications for industrialising Africa necessitated this study. The broad objective was to examine the relationship between Cultural Dynamics and Performance of selected Family Owned Businesses in Anambra State. The study adopted a survey research design. The population of the study was 1500, and the sample size was 316 which guided the distribution of questionnaires in adherence to the proportion of allocation using Bowley’s Allocation formula. Data were analysed with the aid of descriptive statistics and hypothesis tested with the Ordinary least square Regression analysis at 5% level of significance. The result revealed that there is a positive relationship existing between inheritance culture and professionalism in the selected FOBs. The coefficient of determination (R Square) shows that 88% change in professionalism is accounted for by changes in inheritance culture. The study concluded that the culture of an environment overlaps with the culture of FOBs situated in it and the more the owners of FOBs align with the culture of inheritance, the more likely it is for the business not to be professionalised. Among other things, the study recommended that irrespective of the fact that the ownership of the business stays within the family circle, efforts should be made by the families to employ capable hands and experts to help in managing the business. Moreover, even when inheritance is by seniority, management should be left in the hands of more capable, effective and efficient family members since this has far-reaching implications in the industrialisation of Africa.