The Role of Intellectual Capital in Mexican Family-Based Businesses: Understanding their Soul, Brain and Heart

This paper attempts to highlight a key source of intangible value (i.e., intellectual capital) for family-based businesses. By reviewing the merger and acquisition activity of four Mexican cases, an analysis of the consideration of various intangible assets is conducted. Consequently, we introduce the term intellectual capital in family businesses (ICFB) and define it as a sum of a set of quantitative and qualitative intangible assets affecting overall business performance. A metaphor for diagnosing the qualitative intangible assets for family businesses is then suggested encompassing a firm's soul (human capital), brain (structural capital) and heart (relational capital).