The Vega Food Company Case five gives us a prime example of a family business that was nearly broken due to poor communication between family members. The Valle family and their business, The Vega Food Company, recovered from the down times with strength and unity; however, it was not without the careful leadership of a few key family members. It is clear that without the intervention of Francisco Valle Jr., the company and family may have suffered a much different outcome.
Francisco Valle Jr. dedicated himself to fulfilling his father’s legacy. As the only son he slips smoothly in to his father’s footsteps by investing his time in his father’s company; while his other siblings had invested their lives in other areas. However, his sisters felt entitled to benefits from their father’s work. It is clear how they would get this idea, after learning that Francisco Sr. simply gave one of his daughters 650,000 dollars in order to buy a house. How should this seem fair to Francisco Jr., who has put all of his efforts towards helping the business; yet, his sister receives “something for nothing.” Francisco Jr. later balanced this extreme gesture of generosity by adjusting distributions to equalize the other sisters with a gift of comparable value. Although this may seem to be a bad move from a business stand point, I see it as a vital move that brought the family back together and enabled them to put the past behind so that they may work towards future goals.
Francisco Valle Sr., although a good businessman, made many mistakes when dealing with family matters. He showed the characteristics of many self-made entrepreneurs, in that he resisted change in his business structure as the company grew. It is common for an entrepreneur to be weary of transparency when dealing with business matters. An entrepreneur, or founder of a business, has little time to implement