Adaptation or expiration in family firms : organizational flexibility in emerging economies Andrés Hatum explores determinants of organizational flexibility in this examination of four family owned companies two flexible and two less flexible from the edible oil and pharmaceutical industries. By means of an innovative analysis including longitudinal analysis coding analysis statistical analysis and the use of original display charts he illustrates the determinants of flexibility and sheds light on the process of transformation and adaptation of family firms an area that has not yet been the subject of extensive empirical inquiry 1. Introduction 2. Adaptation innovation and the flexible organization 3. Argentinian business environment 4. Adaptive responses under competitive pressures 5. Case study : Sidus Group 6. Case study : Laboratorio DERSA 7. Case study : AGD Aceitera General Deheza 8. Case study : St Martin 9. Concluding remarks on the transformation process of the firms analysed 10. Determinants of organizational flexibility 11. Conclusions.