Measuring family dynamics in business-owning families: Development and validation of the business owning family adaptability and cohesion scale

Abstract

We draw from the Circumplex Model in family science to develop the Business-Owning Family Adaptability and Cohesion (BOFAC) scale to measure interpersonal family dynamics in family businesses. The BOFAC scale consists of two sub-scales: cohesion (7 items) and adaptability (8 items). We followed accepted scale development procedures, including conceptualization, item generation (based on 14 interviews with family business stakeholders), model specification (using a sample of 245 family business stakeholders), evaluation and refinement, and validation, relying on a sample of 144 family business CEOs and other constituents. Our findings show high reliability and validity. Compared to other existing family dynamics scales, BOFAC is directly tied to the family business context; it is short, easy to administer (self-report), and freely available to family business scholars (non-copyrighted).