123 Abstract—Similar to economies in many countries; family- owned enterprises have a significant role in the development of Turkish economy. Although they have a large share in economic terms, their lifetime is limited to working life of their founders. Failure in achieving their sustainability deeply affects not only these businesses but also the economy. Therefore, two basic elements of family owned enterprises, family and organizational culture and especially entrepreneurship culture, should be examined closely. The degree of effectiveness of parents in instilling their children with entrepreneurship culture and their effects on children's profession choices are examined through face-to-face surveys with the managers owning family businesses randomly chosen among family-owned enterprises registered in Konya Chamber of Industry, which are active in specific sectors and which had different generations in their management. Keywords—Family-owned enterprises, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship culture. I. INTRODUCTION ODAY'S increasing competition and evolving process of globalization puts businesses with strong entrepreneurial spirit in the forefront. The family-owned enterprises are businesses which are also noteworthy for their entrepreneurial aspects [1]. Like some other underdeveloped countries, family-owned enterprises have a significant role in the development of Turkish economy. In fact, the family-owned enterprises constitute approximately 95% of the total enterprises operating in Turkey. Although they have a large share in economic terms, there is a direct relationship between entrepreneur and the life of SMEs. One of the important objectives of establishing a family- owned enterprise is to leave a family name that is inherited through generations. However, the problems faced by family- owned enterprises threaten this objective. There are several external and internal factors affecting the sustainability of the family-owned enterprises. External factors in question are the parameters related to exterior circumstances such as market conditions, economic situation, policies and foreign markets [2]. However, in addition to external factors, internal factors also appear to be a real threat to the family-owned enterprises [3]. This is especially attributable to various properties of the family-owned enterprises, especially such as having an emotional identity [4]. Therefore, two basic elements of the This study is an improved version of the paper presented at Family-Owned Enterprises Congress held in İstanbul on 14-15th of April 2016. Ahmet Diken is with the Necmettin Erbakan University, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Turkey (e-mail: adiken@konya.edu.tr). Meral Erdirençelebi is with the Necmettin Erbakan University, Academy of Applied Sciences, Turkey (e-mail: merdirencelebi@konya.edu.tr). family-owned enterprises, family and organizational culture and especially entrepreneurial culture, should be examined closely. Family businesses are eager to grow on the one hand, and on the other hand, they wish to consistently survive in the market and to emerge as a brand by constantly remaining in the maturity state. This necessitates institutionalization. Through institutionalization, the founder (entrepreneur) hands over his/her authority to his/her subordinates (children or professionals). While such entrepreneurs try to grow their business and bring it to the future, they feel concerned about the fact that their business established and developed with dedication could be wasted. This paradox can be solved by the raise of next generation with entrepreneurial qualities. The problem to solve is: “Is it possible to bring the next generation with in the entrepreneurial skills?” This study consists of two parts. The first part of the study includes literature review whereas the criteria for entrepreneurship developed by Miller [5] and also applied by Zahra et al. [6] are discussed in the second part. Furthermore, an application has been performed by making use of the study named “Enabling children to acquire entrepreneurial culture” by David McClelland [7] who examines the relationship between the child and parents about children's acquisition of entrepreneurial skills. II. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK A. Family-Owned Enterprises It is understood that studies in literature [8] approach to family-owned enterprises from different aspects, experiences and observations. Based on these findings, in broad, family- owned enterprises can be defined as the businesses which are established by one or several members of the same family in order to ensure the economic well-being; which are intended to sustain successfully for generations; and which have effective family values, beliefs and attitudes on business purposes; and wherein the family members take part in a substantial part of the ownership and management levels [8]. Although establishment purposes of the family-owned enterprises include establishment purposes of any other ordinary enterprises, it is remarkable that the value approach based on the "family" concept becomes prominent. The followings can be listed among the establishment purposes of the family-owned enterprises: Creating opportunities for the children, immortalize family legacy, holding family together, ensuring financial independence and assets, self-retirement and personal plans, protecting the efficient employees, ensuring financial security of the family and being beneficial The Role of Parents in Teaching Entrepreneurship Culture to Their Children in Family Businesses Ahmet Diken, Meral Erdirençelebi T World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Business and Economics Engineering Vol:10, No:7, 2016 2423 International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 10(7) 2016 scholar.waset.org/1307-6892/10004992 International Science Index, Business and Economics Engineering Vol:10, No:7, 2016 waset.org/Publication/10004992