Management in industrial family businesses in textiles, in a politically-charged Iran, tends to seek continuity through inter-generational succession. Scant research into the phases involved and the influences in this regional context means that it would be commercially advantageous to understand how such families manage the process of succession, and what these influences actually are. Thus, initially a broad literature review was conducted in the area of family business succession, to discern whether the succession process of Iranian family business is aligned with existing literature; a conceptual framework representing succession in the target group was developed; and broad influential factors on the abovementioned succession process were identified, and probed for their criticality. Subsequently, this work follows an inductive approach of constructing theoretical frameworks from looking interpretively across multiple case study findings, from company interviews where successors were male, female and joint-tenure. It initially devotes considerable attention to articulating themes of the drivers and challenges, and transition strategy, before distilling through cross-case analysis the essential influential factors and what defines the phases that a successor proceeds through, from both successor and predecessor perspectives. Finally these are discussed with a number of insights coming into focus, namely the peculiarities of: the environment given the governance issues and internationally sanctioned business conditions; the foreign education experience of English-speaking successors and their autonomy as part of their identity alongside their surpassing of the predecessor academically which drives modernisation; and trust as a clear milestone marker. Notably, the widely accepted conceptualisation of succession in four phases – initiation, integration, joint reign and withdrawal – is extended in this work to include an initial phase, priming, supported by substantive literature on affective commitment arising from parent-child relations. Further, a complex conceptual mapping of the innate phase-specific characteristics helps in the understanding of successor capacity and progress. Notwithstanding the limitations inherent from using a flexible instrument in a qualitative study across narrow business perspectives, and without claim to any single generalisation, management consultancy and practice might consider being alert to the above insights and pressures emanating from important points on the two conceptualised models. The study also has an exploratory aspect that opens up multiple avenues for further investigation into specific mechanisms within this type of transition.

Os mecanismos de governança corporativa são originalmente propostos para empresas de capital aberto, entretanto suas práticas podem minimizar os problemas de agência encontrados em empresas de controle familiar ao estabelecer regras para as relações entre família, patrimônio societário e gestão, além da clássica separação entre propriedade e controle. São notórias a forte presença de grupos familiares e a alta concentração de propriedade entre empresas de capital privado nacional. Muitas das dificuldades enfrentadas são comuns entre as organizações familiares, entretanto, não existem regras e soluções que atendam a todas de modo satisfatório. Dessa forma o trabalho consistiu no estudo de caso de quatro empresas familiares do Rio Grande do Sul em que são investigados o alinhamento das práticas e estruturas de gestão das empresas pesquisadas às práticas de governança corporativa. / Corporate governance mechanisms are originally proposed for publicly traded companies, but their practices can minimize the agency problems found in family-owned companies by establishing rules for family relationships, corporate equity and management, as well as the classic separation between ownership and control. Notable are the strong presence of family groups and the high concentration of ownership among national private equity firms. Many of the difficulties faced are common among family organizations, however, there are no rules and solutions that suit all of them satisfactorily. In this way the work consisted of the case study of four family companies from Rio Grande do Sul in which the alignment of the practices and management structures of the surveyed companies with the practices of corporate governance are investigated.

A agricultura tem tido, ao longo dos séculos, um destaque a nível mundial. O Brasil tem sido considerado grande player nesse segmento, globalmente. Dentro desta perspectiva, este trabalho teve como objetivo o estudo de caso de uma empresa familiar com atuação no agronegócio, localizada no Centro-Oeste brasileiro, em processo de sucessão. A pergunta chave foi “De que modo empresas familiares ligadas ao agronegócio, oriundas da região noroeste do Rio Grande do Sul, e instaladas na região Centro-oeste do Brasil, na busca por explorar novas terras e novas oportunidades, lidaram e estariam lidando com a sucessão em seus negócios, bem como quais seriam as características mais marcantes na condução desse processo”? Para analisar a sucessão familiar, realizou-se um estudo de caso, embasando-se através de pesquisa sobre a Empresa Familiar, Sucessão Familiar e Agronegócio, pesquisa documental, entrevistas semiestruturadas com os sucessores, sucedidos e gestores na empresa que já passaram ou estão passando por este processo. Concluiu-se que a sucessão na empresa visitada vem ocorrendo ao longo da última década, como um processo de desenvolvimento continuado dos sucessores através dos anos, primando pela manutenção dos valores da família e da empresa, de forma profissional, o que tem permitido a perpetuação da empresa, que já está na terceira geração. / Agriculture has been, over the centuries, a prominent worldwide. Brazil has been considered major player in this segment globally. Within this perspective, this study aimed to the case study of a family company engaged in agribusiness, located in the Brazilian Midwest, in succession. The key question was " How family businesses in the agribusiness , came from the Northeast region of Rio Grande do Sul , and installed in the Midwest region of Brazil , seeking to explore new lands and new opportunities , and would be dealt dealing with succession in their business , and what are the most striking features in the conduct of this process " . To analyze the family succession, there was a study case, that is basing through literature search on Family Business, Family Succession and Agribusiness, and semi-structured interviews with the successors, succeeded and managers in the company who have gone or are going through this process. It was concluded that the succession in the visited company has been occurring over the past decade, as an ongoing development process of successors over the years, striving for maintenance of family and values of the company in a professional manner, which has allowed the perpetuation the company, which is already in the third generation.

A agricultura tem tido, ao longo dos séculos, um destaque a nível mundial. O Brasil tem sido considerado grande player nesse segmento, globalmente. Dentro desta perspectiva, este trabalho teve como objetivo o estudo de caso de uma empresa familiar com atuação no agronegócio, localizada no Centro-Oeste brasileiro, em processo de sucessão. A pergunta chave foi “De que modo empresas familiares ligadas ao agronegócio, oriundas da região noroeste do Rio Grande do Sul, e instaladas na região Centro-oeste do Brasil, na busca por explorar novas terras e novas oportunidades, lidaram e estariam lidando com a sucessão em seus negócios, bem como quais seriam as características mais marcantes na condução desse processo”? Para analisar a sucessão familiar, realizou-se um estudo de caso, embasando-se através de pesquisa sobre a Empresa Familiar, Sucessão Familiar e Agronegócio, pesquisa documental, entrevistas semiestruturadas com os sucessores, sucedidos e gestores na empresa que já passaram ou estão passando por este processo. Concluiu-se que a sucessão na empresa visitada vem ocorrendo ao longo da última década, como um processo de desenvolvimento continuado dos sucessores através dos anos, primando pela manutenção dos valores da família e da empresa, de forma profissional, o que tem permitido a perpetuação da empresa, que já está na terceira geração. / Agriculture has been, over the centuries, a prominent worldwide. Brazil has been considered major player in this segment globally. Within this perspective, this study aimed to the case study of a family company engaged in agribusiness, located in the Brazilian Midwest, in succession. The key question was " How family businesses in the agribusiness , came from the Northeast region of Rio Grande do Sul , and installed in the Midwest region of Brazil , seeking to explore new lands and new opportunities , and would be dealt dealing with succession in their business , and what are the most striking features in the conduct of this process " . To analyze the family succession, there was a study case, that is basing through literature search on Family Business, Family Succession and Agribusiness, and semi-structured interviews with the successors, succeeded and managers in the company who have gone or are going through this process. It was concluded that the succession in the visited company has been occurring over the past decade, as an ongoing development process of successors over the years, striving for maintenance of family and values of the company in a professional manner, which has allowed the perpetuation the company, which is already in the third generation.

The aim of this dissertation is analysing the factors which have the direct influence on family business. There are some particular suggestions how to increase the firm's prosperity.

The diploma thesis is focused on generational change in the family business and apprises of the development, status and advantage of running a family business in the Czech Republic and worldwide. Furthermore, the diploma thesis focuses on sociological and tax obstacles in connection with the process of business transformation. It examines the impact of direct taxes on possible options of transferring the business which is carried on under a trade license. The main options are as follows: the transfer to limited liability company, the transfer to trust, the transfer to sell or giving the business free of charge. The theoretical findings are applied to the particular case concerning the transfer of the family business from father to his son.

Abstract Background & Problem: Many family firms face a change in ownership in the near future. Acquisitions of family firms can therefore be a solution for the change in ownership. Due to special family firm characteristics, acquisitions of such companies can be complicated. Previous research shows that accountants and CFOs have a positive effect on the firm’s survival and growth. However, the CFOs’ roles in family business acquisitions have not been studied before.    Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore what roles accountants and CFOs have in acquisitions of family firms.   Method: The base of this study is an abductive research approach with a qualitative research strategy. The main method was semi-structured interviews that was complemented with a document study of official documents from websites.    Conclusion: The empirical findings and analysis revealed that the CFOs in family firm acquisitions are important, but the CFOs’ roles in acquirer and acquiree differ. The CFOs in the selling family business is more of a bean counter in the process and provide material. The CFOs in the acquiring group is more of a business partner, conducting analyses and are involved in strategic decisions. The process of acquiring family firms is a special situation for the CFOs in the acquiring group since they need to adapt to the family firms’ informal culture.

El propósito de este trabajo es recopilar y contrastar investigaciones sobre la continuidad de las empresas familiares y el grado de importancia de la profesionalización y sucesión familiar de la gestión en sus cambios generacionales. El método científico utilizado es exploratorio con enfoque hermenéutico a través de la contrastación de 22 fuentes de Scimago y 12 bibliográficas. Sobre la base de los resultados se aborda la importancia de gestionar los procesos de las organizaciones con criterio profesional y también se evidencia las características de las empresas familiares que mantienen sus motivaciones particulares. Después del análisis a la información de los investigadores se determina que la profesionalización y la sucesión de la gestión en las empresas familiares no van separados, sino que por el contrario se complementan. El proceso de transición puede ser acertado por el fundador y el sucesor puede ser familiar y no familiar, sin obviar las complicaciones que puede generar una decisión no competente. Se encontró pocas investigaciones sobre continuidad en los últimos 5 años a pesar de ser un tema muy importante, las investigaciones datan de hasta 20 años de antigüedad por lo que se necesitan registros e indicadores actuales. Por último, investigar la continuidad de las empresas familiares en el contexto de otros componentes fuera de la propiedad familiar como la profesionalización y la sucesión de la gestión puede ampliar la comprensión sobre las crisis generacionales tan comunes a nivel mundial en este tipo de empresas. / The purpose of this work is to collect and contrast research on the continuity of family businesses and the degree of importance of professionalization and family succession of management in their generational changes. The scientific method used is exploratory with a hermeneutical approach through contrast of 22 Scimago and 12 bibliographic sources. Based on the results, the importance of managing the processes of organizations with professional criteria is discussed and the characteristics of family businesses that maintain their particular motivations are also evidenced. After analyzing the information of the researchers, it is determined that the professionalization and succession of management in family businesses are not separated, but instead complement each other. The transition process can be successful by the founder and the successor can be familiar and unfamiliar, without forgetting the complications that an unqualified decision can generate. There was little research on continuity in the last 5 years despite being a very important issue, the research dates up to 20 years old, so current records and indicators are needed. Finally, investigating the continuity of family businesses in the context of other components outside family property such as professionalization and management succession can broaden the understanding of generational crises so common worldwide in this type of business.

Abstract Background: Innovation is a key factor in the development of new businesses as well as in the sustainable success of existing organisations. Especially for family businesses, innovation is the main strategic instrument to ensure economic growth, prosperity, and transgenerational survival. However, many organisations are unable to achieve success by themselves; thus, collaborative innovation becomes increasingly important. While collaborative innovation with start-ups is highly promising for corporations, it remains unclear how feasible the decision for this approach is for family firms due to their distinct attributes. Purpose: This thesis aims to research how particular family business attributes influence the decision for collaborative innovation with start-ups. Thereby we contribute to existing academic literature and provide valuable insights for family firms to further increase their innovation potential. Method: To fulfil the purpose of this exploratory research study, secondary data, in the scope of a literature review as well as additional valuable sources and primary data, in the form of qualitative interviews, are gathered. The in-depth interviews allow us to collect responses on sensitive information on firm insights, while triangulation with secondary data enables us to generate a deep understanding of different perspectives significant to this study. In total, ten semi-structured interviews from six family businesses are conducted. Later, Grounded Theory is used for analysing the data. Conclusion: The results show that two of the examined attributes, namely risk aversion and unwillingness to collaborate with external partners, have a negative influence on the decision for collaborative innovation with start-ups. The other two attributes, long-term orientation and unwillingness to invest in innovation purposes both demonstrate ambivalent findings. Thus, their influence cannot be clearly evidenced in this study.

Background: In family firms, succession is a critical and complex issue and may determine the business continuity. The succession process often involves a transfer of leadership from one generation to another. Despite acknowledging that gender may affect succession, there is little available research investigating the role of gender in family business succession.  Purpose: This study aims to understand and explore the role of gender in the succession process and the successor selection. Furthermore, the study aims to contribute to the extant research on gender within the succession process by providing an in-depth study on succession and gender issues in small to medium sized family firms.  Method: This study is guided by a relativist and constructivist research philosophy. The qualitative study utilises an interview study strategy and is influenced by an inductive approach. Empirical data was gathered through eight in-depth semi-structured interviews with both successors and predecessors. The empirical findings were analysed using a thematic analysis approach.  Conclusion: The findings show that gender shapes and influences perceptions and ideas regarding successors and succession. Thus, gender and gender stereotypes may affect successors assumptions of succession. The study finds that not just predecessors or the family affect perceptions of gender in succession. It is found that gender and gender stereotypes in the society and within the industries may also affect assumptions of succession and successor selection. Despite this, these stereotypes and perceptions do not seem to manifest in the choices or decisions one make regarding successor selection or the succession process in general.