Family Business Corporations: A Hermeneutic Exploration into Their Archetypal Nature

Abstract

This multidisciplinary hermeneutic study used a lens shaped by the Jungian branch of depth psychology, business, and law to interpret and analyze family business advisory texts in order to identify the archetypes active in family business enterprises. The study identified Organization, Family, Business, and Ownership as the main archetypes energizing family business situations; noted the active presence of the archetypal patterns of the Eternal Return, Individual-Collective Tension, and Leader-Follower dyad; and, through its mini-case study of Mars, Inc., explored which factors influence how these archetypes manifest and contribute to the longevity and success of the family business enterprise. The study then considered how these findings might inform our understanding of non-family-owned businesses, particularly publicly traded corporations, which have been a subject of debate since their inception, and how the use of the corporate form in private and public ownership situations aligns with or hinders the manifestation of the core archetypes underlying incorporated organizations. It posited that the basic corporate form appears more suited to private ownership than the publicly traded arena, where the governance system does not work as intended and challenges the core archetypes’ ability to manifest in ways that support the integrity of these incorporated organizations. The study recommended future research to further understand the effect of utilizing the corporate model in the publicly traded arena, which could potentially lead to the business and legal development of a more suitable public corporation model.