Women＇s Role in Family Business： Evolution and Evidences from a European Case Study

When we look at the possibility of women occupying top management positions, gender stereotypes are still quite strong. Especially in the past, women＇s professional capabilities and competencies were mostly ignored, both in family firms, and in non-family business. Many wives and daughters, and women in general, had played several roles in firms, but often they were invisible, with no consideration and no monetary gain. Women commonly were not respected and they had no chance to show their capabilities （Dumas, 1998）. Even though women CEOs and founders are an emerging phenomenon, nowadays, still many obstacles, stereotypes and mistrust are preventing women from reaching important positions also in family owned business. In today＇s world of family ambition and increasing gender neutrality, women＇s roles encompass higher achievement in organizational hierarchies. Particularly in the last decades, great advancement in the involvement of women in entrepreneurial and managerial roles, especially in family owned businesses, has been achieved, and the situation is changing fast. More and more, wives and daughters are rising to the leadership of family-firms - even in some of the most male-dominated industries （Nelton, 1999）. According to some authors, today women have gone from ＂invisible to invincible＂ （Nelton, 1999）. This paper pursues two main aims： （1） to show the evolution of the women＇s role in family business and to better understand the obstacles/drivers and possible solutions; and （2） to understand the impact of women on family firms considering several aspects such as their leadership styles, and impact on firm＇s strategy, organization, managerialization and performance. In order to summarize the main obstacles and positive aspects concerning the women＇s involvement in family business, we have applied the framework proposed by Martinez Jimenez （2009）. This framework has been used because it helps to better understand which are the obstacles and drivers that impact on the women＇s involvement in family business. The research method is based on the longitudinal analysis of a case study concerning a medium sized family firm operating in the service sector in Europe. The analysis of the case study has confirmed most of the obstacles/weakness and positive aspects/strengths highlighted by the literature. In the period of analysis, an evolution of the role of women among family generations had emerged, as well a less relevant role of obstacles with respect to strengths can be identified.

The Sugar Tax Implementation

In Italy,Law No.160 of 27 December 2019,also known as the Budget Law 2020(paragraphs 661-676)introduced the Sugar tax.Subsequently,Law No.178 of 30 December 2020(Budget Law 2021)brought some changes such as the effective date of the Sugar tax and administrative penalties.This tax should have become effective on 1 January 2021 but was deferred until 1 January 2023.In addition to the regulatory dimension,this contribution aims first to introduce the growing trend of sugar consumption and then to analyse the issue of the sugar tax,first in Italy and later in Europe.Finally,an attempt will also be made to highlight the effects of this application.