Technological Innovation in Family Business

The face is that Spain is one of the most dynamic economies, the cross that we one of the European Union countries with the worst productivity figures. Neither the economic development experienced in recent years seems sufficient to achieve a better use of resources within the company. Therefore, there appears to be a chronic problem of productivity in the Spanish companies that ultimately end up affecting the economic situation. If previously competed for cost, it is clear that the current economic environment characterized by competition from Asian countries, this is no longer possible. If we descend to the regional level, these approaches are even more certain.The question we must ask ourselves is why we seem to be as entrepreneurial but yet so very efficient in the management and use of resources Productivity problems are associated with low levels of innovation and lack of professionalism in management and organization of the company. Of course it is essential to entrepreneurship of our businessmen but also companies need to have leadership cadres trained and able to innovate in the broadest sense of the word. The family business is not immune to these deficiencies in professionalism, on the contrary, the relationship between family and business sometimes results in managerial positions and unsuitable persons, ultimately, to low levels of innovation. One of the most crucial innovations of good corporate governance are the information technologies.Spain is ranked 24th in the world ranking of technological competitiveness, according to the findings of the study ‘The means to compete: benchmarking IT industries’, produced by the “Economist Intelligence Unit’. For the World Economic Forum (WEF) Spain is in 32nd-place ranking on the use of information technology and communication (ICT) in the world, one less than in 2005 and seven least since 2002. According to the European Monitoring Technologies Information for 2006, Spain is the second lowest in the EU 25 in terms of IT spending as a percentage of GDP. These data make clear the Spanish technological backwardness, but why does this happen There are several reasons as well as the perspectives from which addresses the limited use of information technology.Then I detail which, a priori, closest to the field of small-scale family business: Low level of awareness of the benefits of information systems. The centralization of functions by the manager / owner explains traditionally low technology-driven SMEs. Normally the computer activities are outsourced and are reduced to a purely operational role. Investment in information systems, low cost and low risk. The limited financial resources and dependence on short-term investments decline leads to some entity that is the company that truly transform These barriers explain the technological backwardness Spanish.The companies do invest in information technology: computers, phones, Internet, website, computer applications, but fail to capitalize on these investments. One other thing to have and use. The real use of IT involves a determined bid for a new business model by transforming internal hierarchical relations and relations with the environment.