Succession in family business: multi-source perspectives

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 753-774 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gil Bozer ◽  
Leon Levin ◽  
Joseph C. Santora

Purpose Despite the extensive breadth of research into the critical challenge of succession in family business, generational succession in family business has been investigated from predominately one-dimensional perspective. The purpose of this paper is to respond to call for a multi-perspectives examination of leadership succession in order to embrace the dynamic and complex nature of succession in a family business. Accordingly, the authors investigated the key personal and professional factors associated with effective family-business succession across four key stakeholders: incumbent, successor, family, and nonfamily members. Design/methodology/approach The explanatory research design included 16 interviews in Phase 1 and 41 prospective case study interviews in Phase 2, both with Australian family businesses that had or were about to experience generational transition. Findings Incumbents and successor interview findings support the benefits of maintaining a cohesive family business, adaptable family culture, and familiness for effective succession. The authors also identified several personal components (e.g. family-business socialization and external experiences) that can help determine the commitment of successors and how this commitment can change once they assume a leadership position. Business size was the professional component supported by incumbent, successor, and nonfamily members as having a significant impact on succession process. As family business grows and becomes more highly complex, a clearly defined set of procedures become imperative. Practical implications Family-business practitioners can apply the findings to manage the processes and expectations of family and the business to achieve effective generational succession and thereby increase the sustainability of the business. Originality/value This research provides a coherent and comprehensive understanding of the interdependencies of competing priorities in the complex succession process that is essential for family-business sustainability and performance.

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Basco

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to compare the post-entry firm behavior of firms owner-managed by entrepreneurs who entered for family-oriented vs opportunity-oriented reasons. Design/methodology/approach Using the institutional logics perspective, the author argues that firms under the influence of opportunity-oriented or family-oriented owner-managers may differ in their internal practices, purpose, strategies, and performance. The author follows an inductive research methodology strategy by performing multivariate analyses with a sample of 1,733 Chilean firms to explore the preliminary conjectures. Findings Firms owner-managed by entrepreneurs who entered for a family-oriented reason finance their investment with firm resources, are less dependent on one customer and are willing to put forth less innovation effort than firms owner-managed by entrepreneurs who entered for an opportunity-oriented reason. No differences were found in terms of employee productivity. Additionally, the results show that young firms owner-managed by opportunity-oriented entrepreneurs have higher growth ratios than young firms owner-managed by family-oriented entrepreneurs. Inversely, old firms owner-managed by entrepreneurs who entered for an opportunity-oriented reason grow much less than old firms owner-managed by entrepreneurs who entered for a family-oriented reason. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature at the intersection of family business and entrepreneurship by addressing the calls made by Aldrich and Cliff (2003) and Discua Cruz and Basco (2018) to better understand the family’s influence on entrepreneurship.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 281-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grisna Anggadwita ◽  
Werda Bagus Profityo ◽  
Dini Turipanam Alamanda ◽  
Anggraeni Permatasari

Purpose The family business is one of the business entities that contribute to the economy of a country. Succession in the family business occupies a strategic position, especially in maintaining the company’s sustainability. The Chinese family business has unique characteristics in maintaining and growing its business with the cultural values that underlie how their business. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the cultural values of Chinese ethnic and their implications in the succession process in small family businesses in Bandung, Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach This research uses a qualitative method with the in-depth interview method as a data collection technique. The sampling technique uses purposive sampling, while to test the validity of research data using a triangulation technique. A total of four small Chinese-owned family businesses participated as informants in this study. The study will identify the stage of succession process in the Chinese family business. Findings There are several stages identified in the succession planning of small Chinese-owned family business in Bandung which include succession antecedents, succession activities and desired outcomes. The results showed that small Chinese-owned family business in Bandung has not applied the rules and procedures in the succession process. Most of the Chinese family business in this research still holds Confucianism culture; they prioritize boys as business successors, who have a greater responsibility rather than successor with other gender. Practical implications Several implications are discussed. One of them is the Chinese family business holding cultural values in the process of family business succession. Originality/value This research is expected to provide theoretical and practical implications for academics and family companies with similar cases.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Adriana López-Chávez ◽  
César Maldonado-Alcudia ◽  
Ana María Larrañaga Núñez

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to analyze the current state of knowledge of family businesses in tourism through a systematic review of international academic literature with an emphasis on Latin America.Design/methodology/approachThe paper opted for a systematic review involving analyzing international academic documents, articles, dissertations and papers that presented both theoretical and empirical research results. The search was conducted from January to April 2019 on online databases and search engines.FindingsStudies are concentrated in strategic planning and competitiveness. Most of them are published since 2014 by Ibero-American countries. Some features are coincident among the varied geographical contexts, as the importance of generational succession planning; search for family welfare throughout the business; and the existence of own capacities and resources. Besides, the owner's objectives and gender involvement differ in the research results of developed countries and emerging economies; some implications for Latin America are analyzed.Originality/valueThe family business has international economic relevance, especially in tourism. Still, the studies in this field are few, even when tourism implies processes and interactions that can influence the development of the companies that integrate their industry. In this way, a compilation of the recent works is carried out, in order to identify how the complex family dynamics with tourism are integrated into the studies, main contributions to the field and knowledge gaps.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keanon Alderson

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the literature concerning the negative effects of conflict among family businesses and to make practitioner focussed recommendations for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict. This paper discusses the prevalence of conflict in family firms, differentiates the types of conflict present, and recommends proven approaches to prevent and manage the conflict, with a focus on corporate governance tools. Examples of well known companies are presented. Design/methodology/approach – A review was conducted of the literature concerning family business conflict and corporate governance. Findings – Conflict is a common problem in family firms that has significant consequences for the business and the family. Research has shown effective governance may reduce and manage conflict. Research limitations/implications – This was a literature review. As such it did not perform original research. Practical implications – This paper has practical implications for family business practitioners. The paper offers the negative aspects of conflict and recommends effective mechanisms such as governance tools to enable the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict. Social implications – Implications exist for practitioners and policy makers in order to reduce conflict and increase the viability of family firms. Originality/value – The scholarly literature has been reviewed and synthesized into distillation for family business owners.


2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (02) ◽  
pp. 127-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
SALMA FATTOUM ◽  
ALAIN FAYOLLE

The family character gathers firms whose weight in the economic activity of countries is considerable for developed countries as well as for the others. However, this type of firm is exposed to not only the threats that challenge all types of firms but they must also face dangers related to their family nature. Several American and European studies were interested in the succession issues associated with family businesses. However, this topic received very little theoretical and empirical investigation in developing countries. In Tunisia, the push in favor of private firms was given in the 60s. Nearly 50 years later, those entrepreneurs who had received state aid to start their businesses are about to retire. How is this dealt with? How is succession "guaranteed"? Hard as it may be to speculate on the outcome of this succession, can we at least describe its phases first and then consider the factors that could have an impact on it? These central questions to Tunisia's economy have yet to be answered academically. Our aim, in this paper, is to improve our understanding of the nature of the relation between the founder and his successor during the process of succession in the Tunisian family business while proposing reflections to be carried out to make a success of this generational change. Our paper is organized as follows. The first part will be an analysis of the literature on family firms and the succession process. In the second part, we will introduce the methodological aspects of our study, which was conducted on six Tunisian family firms at different stages of the succession process. In the third part, we will present and discuss the results.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Amado Godoy

This research proposes a model to measure the effect of family culture on firm performance in family business retailer-vendor strategic partnerships. Prior research that has contributed to the development of the discourse on family culture, organizational culture, family and relationship value, commitment, and trust will be analyzed. Eight hypotheses are presented, four of which are an extension of prior research. The model ratifies a positive relationship between family culture and performance, especially when considering the successor generation. Since the founders of the firm are the personification of the family culture itself, for this group, family culture does not positively influence performance. The outcome of this research will illustrate not only the effects of family culture in family firms’ performance, but also the impact of relationship and behavioral factors in business.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeeshan Ahmad ◽  
Muhammad Rizwan Yaseen

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to enhance the longevity and improve the succession process in small family businesses sustaining in Pakistan. Family businesses perform an active role in economic development of any country. Statistics shows, 30/13/3 business transfers into subsequent generation in the interfamily business (Ward, 2016). Design/methodology/approach Data are collected from 365 respondents who were either incumbents or successor in 135 small family businesses in Pakistan. Simple linear regression and process control analysis by Andrew Hayes are used for moderating variable analysis in SPSS20. Findings The results show that customer focus management, business strategies and governance board have a significant positive impact on the succession process of small family business in Pakistan. There is negative significant moderating impact of education on business strategies and customer focus management while there is no moderating impact of education over governance board and satisfaction with succession. Research limitations/implications This study will help the family business incumbents to focus deliberately on the factors that influence the succession process so that business could be transferred to the subsequent generation successfully. Originality/value The previous research does not show the effect of education at different levels and importance of customer focus management toward the succession process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 258-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thanh Trung Pham ◽  
Robin Bell ◽  
David Newton

Purpose Many family businesses do not survive into the second generation. A common reason put forward for this is poor succession planning for the second generation. This paper is designed with the aim to explore the role of the father in supporting the son’s business knowledge and development in Vietnamese family businesses. Design/methodology/approach This research adopted an inductive qualitative approach using multiple face-to-face semi-structured interviews with five father–son succession pairs. The interview participants were a cross section of Vietnamese family businesses, where the father–son pair was involved in the process of business knowledge transfer and the succession process was at an advanced stage. Findings The results suggest that the father plays different roles at different stages of the son’s business knowledge development process. In particular, the father acts as an example during the son’s childhood; a supporter to encourage the son to gain more business knowledge from both formal education and working experience outside the family business; a mentor and trouble-shooter after the son joins the family business as a full-time employee; and as an advisor after the son becomes the leader of the firm. Originality/value Most Vietnamese family businesses are still operating under the control of the first generation, and as a result, research into the succession process in Vietnam can help to provide valuable insights. Furthermore, existing research into the role of the predecessor in the whole process from the successor’s childhood until the end of the succession process is ambiguous and requires further research to clarify this research gap.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 349-359
Author(s):  
Nyayu Lathifah Tirdasari ◽  
Wawan Dhewanto

PurposeSuccession timing plays a key role in the part of the succession process. While much notice has been given solely to the viewpoint of predecessor and successor, less known about the schedule during this most critical family business dealings. The purpose of this research is to assess the right time for predecessors to let go of their leadership and allow the successor to take charge of the family business. Notably, it considers how the process of interaction between predecessor and successor may encourage successor capability, succeed the family business and following implications for the succession process as well.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory comparative case study design employed in order to disclose the time by time activities around the succession process. This study presented circa 11 case studies from family businesses of the food industry. Data gathered utilizing semi-structured interviews and formal secondary data from the organizations, all of whom operate in Java, Indonesia.FindingsFindings reveal five critical outcomes. First, the results show that most of the respondents had no written succession plan and did not keep up the developmental stages, but the succession process was successful. Second, the study found a reduced age of successor even though the stages increase. Third, the respondents did not know when was the predecessor is getting busy managing the business, and some successors did not attend college as well. Fourth, the succession process of RC is the fastest and TY is the longest. Last, the succession process of the second-generation family business is faster than the third-generation.Originality/valueThis paper presents further evidence of the succession process of family businesses. It moves beyond a timing explanation of succession to develop a more sequentially aware understanding of the agility within the succession process. It contributes to the limited references of the family business in the food industry in Indonesia as well.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jahangir Wasim ◽  
James Cunningham ◽  
Alexander Maxwell-Cole ◽  
James Richard Taylor

Purpose Knowledge transfer plays a key role in the succession process. While much attention has been given to the passing of business knowledge form incumbent to successor, less is known about the use of nonfamily knowledge during this most crucial of family business events. The purpose of this paper is to look how knowledge from nonfamily employees is treated at times of succession. Importantly, it considers how the controlling family’s cultural background may influence nonfamily knowledge use, and subsequent implications for the succession process. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory comparative case study design is adopted in order to uncover the complex social and cultural dynamics around knowledge use. Four case studies are presented from family businesses of different, and contrasting, cultural origins. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, observations and formal secondary data from the organisations, all of whom operate in the UK. Findings Findings reveal a complex picture, part influenced by the cultural dynamics of the family and part by business necessity. Specifically, power–distance appears as an informative cultural dimension, influencing how knowledge is used and nonfamily are perceived. While some family businesses privilege the knowledge from family, others see the need to build knowledge relationships more broadly. Originality/value This paper provides further evidence to the heterogeneity of family businesses. It moves beyond a processual explanation of succession to develop a more contextually aware understanding of the dynamics and sensitivities involved.


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