Managing Generational Handover in Family Business

Author(s):  
Barbara Barabaschi ◽  
Franca Cantoni ◽  
Roberta Virtuani

The aim of this chapter is to highlight the peculiarities of the succession in family-owned businesses and to discuss the main difficulties encountered by second and third-generation entrepreneurs during the succession process. By the use of direct interviews, the authors collected information about the specific role played by the multiplicity of stakeholders involved, first of all the HR function and the relationship with non family employees. The case studies analysed consider family firms that are managing their succession process. Two generations coexist in two cases with family members belonging to different branches of the same family. Non-family managers and employees represents a fundamental stakeholder that influence the success and sustainability of the succession process. One aim of the chapter is to analyse how the HR practices have changed during the succession process considering how the successors entered and integrated with non-family managers and employees according to the management for stakeholders approach.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Augusto Dalmoro Costa ◽  
Aurora Carneiro Zen ◽  
Everson dos Santos Spindler

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between family succession, professionalization and internationalization in family businesses within the Brazilian context.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents a multiple-case study method with three Brazilian family businesses that have at least two generations of the owning family involved in the business and an international presence of at least three years. In-depth interviews and secondary data were undertaken with family and non-family members of each case.FindingsThe authors' results show that a family business can boost its internationalization by introducing both succession planning and professionalization on international activities. As family members tend to be more risk-averse and focused on keeping the family business within the family, professionalization is a way of improving the firm's ability to expand internationally. This process tends to lead to lower performance by the firm for the first few months or the first year after the investment, but afterward, international performance tends to grow exponentially.Originality/valueOnly a few studies have been concerned on the relationship of these three dimensions. Thus, the research takes into account that professionalization and succession lead family businesses to improve their internationalization strategies.


2009 ◽  
pp. 153-171
Author(s):  
Walter Zocchi

- The succession process, is one of the main themes of Family Business. The literature widely analysed this topic through the identification of the factors that characterized successful intergenerational transfers. This research, on the contrary, wants to go further the common rationalization of assets, governance and the successor's experiences and knowledge, analysing elements usually considered of minor importance but that, in our opinion can make the difference becoming strategic elements. In particularly, will be deepened the role of communication in the passage of the business to the next generation. Beginning with the examination of the literature, this essay aims to give a theoretical framework to better understand the results of an empirical study - on a representative sample of Italian family firms - which main aim was to study the organizational and managerial implications caused by the presence two generations of entrepreneurs and the role of communication in business decision processes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (02) ◽  
pp. 79-107
Author(s):  
Hedi Yezza ◽  
Didier Chabaud ◽  
Andrea Calabrò

The succession process can be a traumatic event in the life cycle of a family firm and is usually characterised by an increased interest towards the firm of the successor accompanied by a progressive disengagement of the predecessor. Drawing on five longitudinal case studies of Tunisian family firms examined from 2016 to 2019, we investigated the sequential and dynamic nature of this process, focusing on the conflicts among family members involved in the process. The main findings suggest that professional and family-related conflicts can lead to excessive tensions between the involved parties, which can result in failure of the succession process. Moreover, specific contingency factors, such as tragic events, can positively or negatively trigger deviation from the succession process path.


2001 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.B. Ibrahim ◽  
K. Soufani ◽  
J. Lam

For many founders of family firms, the decision to retire and relinquish control of the business to their offspring is difficult. Pierre Peladeau founded Quebecor Inc., a family business and a communications leader in the new economy. The present research describes the reluctance of the founder to let go of the business to his offspring and the succession process after the death of the founder. The methodology employed is a combination of case history and study of public documents. The study underscores the need to manage conflict between family members and to plan for succession for the next generation effectively.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Annalisa Sentuti ◽  
Francesca Maria Cesaroni

Why does a process of management accounting change (MAC) that started with the best premises for a successful conclusion stop? What could be the causes of failure? In the last few decades, several authors have tried to answer these questions in the field of MAC by adopting different theoretical frameworks and offering various responses. However, few contributions have dealt with this theme from the family’s perspective, and they haven’t considered the specific challenges concerning such firms, like those connected to the succession process.However, few contributions have dealt with this theme from the perspective of family and considering their specific characteristics and challenges, as in particular the succession process. To fill this gap, this paper explores the relationship between MAC and the succession process aiming to answer the question: “How can a successor influence the start, development and final outcome of a MAC process in a family business?” Using a longitudinal case study, the paper explores an Italian family firm in which a MAC and a succession process started simultaneously. However, despite all the best premises for its development and implementation, the MAC process was interrupted. The analysis focuses on the successor and his goals and motivations to better understand which role he assumed in the MAC process. Findings suggest that a successor can play an ambivalent role. He can be a key agent in promoting and triggering a MAC process in family firms, but he can also become a major obstacle to the process of change when his personal objectives and interests prevail over the company’s needs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 809-822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Chepurenko

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to deal with informal entrepreneurial activity of micro and small family businesses in the specific transitional environment. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses two cases – an informal micro business (“marginal” family business), and a formal retail small firm (“simpleton” family firm), respectively, of a panel conducted in 2013–2015 in Moscow. Findings First, the real distribution of responsibilities between family members is informal; it relies more on interpersonal trust and “common law.” Second, exactly the ease of governing such trust-based businesses for the founders’ generation sets limits of succession of small-scale family businesses. Third, as trust in the state is very low, the policy of Russian authorities to quickly force informal entrepreneurs to become legalized is substantially wrong; the results would be either a transformation of “simpleton” into “marginal” businesses or quitting business. Research limitations/implications Research limitations of the study are the number of observations and the localization of the panel only in the capital of Russia. Practical implications The fundamental failure of Russian State policy toward small-scale family businesses is its attempt to convince “marginal” to formalize and to oppress “simpleton” family businesses pushing them into informality. In fact, it should be designed vice versa: tolerate “marginal” businesses and let them to “live and die” while shaping a friendly environment for “simpleton” family firms. Originality/value The paper argues that the most important facet of informality in small family entrepreneurship is the informal property rights and governance duties’ distribution among the family members.


2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 467-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruben Benatti ◽  
Angela Tiziana Tarantini

Abstract The aim of this article is to analyse the relationship that second- and third-generation Italian migrants in Australia have with the Italian dialect of their family. We report on the survey we recently carried out among young Italian-Australians, mainly learners of Italian as a second language. First, we analyse the motivation behind learning Italian as a heritage language. We then move on to describe their self-evaluation of their competence in the dialect of their family, and their perception thereof. Surprisingly, our survey reveals that not only are Italian dialects still understood by most second- and third-generation Italians (contrary to what people may think), but Italian dialects are also perceived by young Italian-Australians as an important part of their identity. For them, dialect is the language of the family, particularly in relation to the older members. It fulfills an instrumental function, as it enables communication with some family members who master neither English nor Italian, but above all, it is functional to the construction of their self and their social identity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanna Campopiano ◽  
Emanuela Rondi

We extend McLarty, Vardaman, and Barnett’s analysis of how family firm supervisor attributes, in terms of familial status and socioemotional wealth importance, affect supervisee performance by considering the supervisee attributes. We further integrate the concept of restricted and generalized social exchange to provide a theoretical basis for how hierarchical dyadic (in)congruence moderates the relationship between supervisee commitment and performance. By providing a more fine-grained conceptualization, we contribute to the family business literature at its organization behavior interface.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asma AbdulRahim Chang ◽  
Muhammad Shujaat Mubarik ◽  
Navaz Naghavi

PurposeBy taking the theory of entrepreneurial legacy as the baseline, this study explores the various aspects of succession planning in indigenous family businesses especially the role of female family members in succession and conflicts in family businesses.Design/methodology/approachThe study is qualitative in nature and adopts narrative inquiry to explore the aspects of succession planning. In doing so, the study utilizes an in-depth interviewing technique with nine participants who run their family-owned firms which are mostly in their second or third generation for analysis.FindingsThe findings are concurrent with the literature that indicates a lack of strategic succession planning although ordinary or natural succession does occur in some firms. The study also reports a lack of consideration for female members in succession, daughters in particular, for traditional family firms (FFs) in contrast to entrepreneurial FFs.Research limitations/implicationsThe study has many implications for family-owned firms in Pakistan as they need to align their family business with the theory of entrepreneurial legacy and its three strategic activities in order to ensure the longevity of their business.Originality/valueExploring how succession planning takes place in family indigenous family businesses and what is the role of female family members in succession and conflicts in family businesses are original contributions of this study.


2020 ◽  
pp. 104225872095638
Author(s):  
Daniela Gimenez-Jimenez ◽  
Linda F. Edelman ◽  
Tommaso Minola ◽  
Andrea Calabrò ◽  
Lucio Cassia

In enterprising families, the family, as a social institution, is the foundation of the family business. However, in enterprising families, intergenerational succession remains problematic. Using intergenerational solidarity theory, and data from the 2013 Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students Survey (GUESSS; N = 18,576), our findings indicate that affective commitment partially mediates the relationship between family business exposure and offspring’s succession intentions. We also find that this relationship is stronger for sons than for daughters, while birth order has no effect. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.


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