This research has the objective of presenting the conditions of a professionalization process in a family business. Family owned companies host opposing interpretations concerning the capacity family managers have to control a competitive business. In this research, an alternative to family values revealed contradictory interpretations between those being investigated. Using the antagonism between instrumental and substantive rationality, we associate the first type of rationality with the perspective of the new professional managers and the second type of rationality to the perspective of the old workers. We use qualitative approach with case studies developed through interviews at three corporate units. The data was analyzed through content analysis. The results show a degradation of the company founder's ideals due to modernization discourse instigated by professional managers. This reduced the founder's legacy and substituted other values associated with competitiveness and long-term viability.
family business; instrumental and substantive rationalities; professionalization; organizational change; values