The aim of this thesis is to understand the phenomenon of succession among South Asian small family businesses based in Scotland. It explores the reluctance of the younger generation towards choosing family businesses as their careers. The thesis aims to understand the career orientation of potential inheritors leading to succession or a lack of succession by understanding their socialisation process. Thereby it integrates the literatures of family business succession, socialisation and career development. The thesis presents a conceptual framework of the nature/interaction of factors such as personal factors, familial, cultural, those pertaining to the economic environment, education and family business factors, its effects on Career Orientation and choice of Career pathways leading to succession or not among ethnic minority small family enterprises. This is presented in the context of the changing economic, social and cultural environment in which these businesses operate. Research questions focus on understanding the process of socialisation in a dual cultural context i.e. Asian as well as British, its effects on career orientations and most importantly on Asian family business succession. Although family business succession is presented as a widely researched subject area, this thesis particularly highlights the gaps arising due to an understanding that has specifically developed in the past from the founder or incumbent owners’ perspective. This thesis researched from the perspective of the potential inheritor, to understand the process of socialisation and its effects on career orientation leading to succession in Asian family businesses and contributes to fulfilling the theoretical gap in the literature. The focus of the empirical research is the Scotland based Asian community owned small retail businesses that are family owned. Succession is important for continuity and failure to succeed are seen to have adverse effects on the long term inter-generational continuity. At the same time succession among the second generation is looked at as a career choice which is influenced by a career decision making process. Hence a conceptual framework is necessary that looks at the concepts of socialisation, career decision making and succession together. Having the family and business interdependent in this complex system, it is not just the economic environment that shapes these factors, but also the dynamics within the family, society and community pressures, religion, a conflicting multigeneration perspective on business, culture and life in the UK. These demand a qualitative methodology, using personal interviews with both old and young generations and key informants as well as informal conversations with members of the community for sample selection, data collection and theory generation. The data collection process was guided by the newly formulated theoretical framework. Data was categorised as per themes from the framework and coded into categories in order to understand the process of socialisation and career orientation. This was then used to draw out the various career pathways that the individuals selected providing an understanding of reluctance towards joining the family business. The findings revealed that integrating the concepts of socialisation, career development and orientation provided a greater understanding of the process of decision making about succession among potential inheritors from Asian small family businesses. However, a number of other themes emerged from the findings, these are an emphasis on work-life balance as key to decision making. In addition, other themes that emerged were increased desire for paternal bonding, status and prestige from chosen careers, boundedness due to Asian stereotype, and parental or societal pressure and expectations. Moreover, trans-generational entrepreneurial continuity emerged as an important theme in which the older as well as the younger generation realised alternatives to continuing the existing family business and that true succession possibly is the transfer of entrepreneurial skills and abilities, something that the older generation developed and utilised when starting their own businesses as migrants. The thesis makes a contribution to the theoretical understanding of succession among South Asian family businesses. The findings emphasise the understanding of the succession process as a career decision making process particularly when looked at from the potential inheritors’ perspective. It also contributes to the socialisation literature by developing the multi-dimensional understanding of bi-cultural identity formation due to the dual impact of factors such as culture, religion, peers, family and broader society. This thesis also makes recommendations to policy by suggesting a conscious shift in policy orientation from the traditional first generation migrant to the young generation British Asian child of a migrant who due to their different socialisation has unique needs and orientations. The thesis recommends, on the basis of findings, for policy to be sensitive to the needs of the younger generation and for it to be focused on developing self-employment among this new generation of Asians.

The presented master thesis is an exploratory, multiple case study that analyzes the recruitment practices and their respective processes in five family firms located in the Southern part of Germany. A strong HR function inside a company is necessary to stay competitive in the market and survive in the long-run. Hereby recruitment is an important field of research because firms depend on their employees who are ultimately the vital factor in running a successful business. Recruitment is an ongoing process in a dynamic business world and a very crucial responsibility of HRM inside the organization. Especially due to the strong family involvement, commitment to the localities, overlap between financial and nonfinancial goals, and a deeply ingrained business culture based on the family founders’ values, establishing an effective recruitment process is even more important in family than in nonfamily firms. Thus, this study aims at exploring and researching individual characteristics associated with the recruitment practices and tries to display the main influencing factors in the recruitment process of the studied firms. Through analyzing secondary and primary data collected with the help of semi-structured interviews, the authors were able to gather insightful data from CEOs and HR representatives in order to draw comprehensive conclusions regarding how suitable employees are recruited in family firms. The results show that the person-organization (P-O) fit is a main component which family firms try to assess in their applicants. Personality and the fit to the respective business culture, apart from the actual skill-set, is an additional requirement for being recruited. Through various recruitment channels, strategies, and assessments the family firms try to use the construct of familiness to their advantage and benefit.

Organisation’s adaptation to owner’s chronic illness is an important theme for all businesses, but it is especially valuable for small family businesses as well as entrepreneurial couples due to their strong interrelation between family and business. So far family business research has not looked into family businesses’ process of adapting to the disruption caused by the occurence of owner’s severe chronic illness. The purpose of this thesis was to look at what impact an owner’s severe chronic illness has on the organisation’s adaptation. To fulfil the purpose, this study combines family science, and family business research and theories in an interdisciplinary manner, applying family science theory to family business research. Our approach is directed by the Double ABCX Model of Family Stress and the FAAR Model to explore the adaptation process of family businesses and to identify demands and resources connected to the disruption. This multiple case study, utilising semi-structured interviews, observations and secondary data was conducted in a Finnish and German context. The collected qualitative data is presented as narrative case summaries, and analysed by applying in- and cross-case analysis. The findings add to the theoretical understanding of the adaptation process by identifying preconditions, which affect organisations’ adaptation process. Moreover, we identified demands that a chronic illness causes for both the business and the family as well as resources that are used to respond to the new demands. A model illustrating the adaptation process and its dimensions is presented. The findings of the study do not only serve family businesses coping with a chronic illness but provide more implications for businesses in general. Organisations can use the study’s findings to prepare and make their business fit for disruptions of different nature. In addition, organisations in the particular situation researched can benefit by better understanding how they could further improve to stay resilient for possible future disruptions.

No description available.

Det finns idag en utbredd förståelse för att företagets inneboende kunskap och kompetens utgör en allt viktigare roll för att kunna möta framtida utmaningar. Att utveckla kompetens och utbyta kunskap kan därför ses som centralt i de flesta företag, men detta framhävs som än mer betydelsefullt i familjeföretag eftersom kompetensen är direkt nödvändig för dess framtida överlevnad och utveckling. Det som skiljer familjeföretag från övriga är den familjära anknytningen vilken sätter sin prägel på hur företaget drivs samt dess kultur. Studiens syfte har varit att undersöka hur kunskapsöverföringen ser ut i mindre familjeföretag. Den forskning vilken genomsyrat denna studie har varit flerfallsstudie där djupgående granskningar av tre företag har skett. Insamlingen för det empiriska materialet har skett genom semistrukturerade intervjuer och studiens metodologiska tillvägagångssätt har följt en abduktiv ansats. Utifrån analysresultaten framgick det att kunskapsöverföringen i alla tre företag främst sker genom sociala samspel. I företag C förefinns dock även kompletterande metoder i form av bland annat arbetsinstruktioner vilka de övriga företagen uppvisade en avsaknad av. Denna avsaknad kan medföra en risk att kunskaper dels försvinner eller att dessa inte utvecklas. Den familjära inblandningen inverkar på samtliga företag och sätter sin prägel på bland annat företagskulturen, då det har framkommit att de genomsyras av en inbjudande och lättsam stämning vilken inbjuder till idé- och kunskapsinteraktion. Det har även uppvisat sig förefinnas svårigheter i samtliga företag att helt hålla isär de privata och professionella rollerna, vilket har visat sig medföra såväl positiva som negativa effekter på kunskapsöverföringen. / Today, there is a widespread understanding that the company’s inherent knowledge and competence play an increasingly important role in order to meet future challenges. Developing competence and exchanging knowledge can therefore be seen as central in most companies, but this is emphasized as even more important in family businesses because competence is directly necessary for its future survival and development. What distinguishes family businesses from the rest, is the familiar affiliation which sets its mark on how the company is run and its culture. The aim of the study has been to investigate how the knowledge transfer appears in smaller family businesses. The research that permeated this study has been a multi-case study in which in-depth reviews of three companies have taken place. The collection of the empirical material has been done through semi-structured interviews and the methodological procedure of the study has followed an abductive approach. Based on the analysis results, it appeared that the knowledge transfer in all three companies mainly takes place through social interaction. In company C, however, there are also supplementary methods in the form of, among other things, work instructions which the other companies showed a lack of. This absence may entail a risk that knowledge will disappear or not develop. The family involvement affects all companies and sets its mark on the corporate culture, as it has come to light that the cultures are permeated by an inviting and easy-going atmosphere which invites to idea- and knowledge interaction. There have also been found to be difficulties in all companies to completely disassociate the private and professional roles, which has proved to bring both positive and negative effects on the knowledge transfer.

Background: Family businesses are a complex, overlapping system of business, ownership, and family, which contribute between 70 to 90 percent of the World’s economy. Family businesses do however struggle to survive over generations, to which only 30 percent makes it to the second generation, emphasizing the need for further research within this field, in order to increase the survival rate and positively affect the World’s economy. Purpose: To fill the research gap within succession in family businesses, by investigating the phenomenon of succession planning and how history matters, through the use of the path dependence framework. For this, we are analyzing the second generational Swedish family business, Holtab, which have undergone a conflicted succession in the past and now are planning for the next succession, to which we seek to answer, “How does path dependence influence succession in family businesses?”. Method: Qualitative, single case study with a relativistic ontology and a social constructionism epistemology to showcase how actors construct their realities, which follows an interpretivist philosophy. We follow abductive reasoning with an explorative research strategy to investigate the theory of path dependence, applied to the Swedish family business named Holtab.            Data was collected through in-depth interviews, both semi-structured and unstructured with open-ended questions. Conclusion: Our findings, with the framework of path dependence, clearly show that history matters, as the acknowledgment of it triggered the process of professionalization at Holtab and set a focus for a planned, well-thought succession process, in order to learn and build on the mistakes of the past [history].

No description available.

Bakgrund: Att lyckas med ett generationsskifte i familjeföretag kräver många sammanfallande omständigheter för att bli optimalt. På grund av att familjeföretag utgör en unik organisationsform som bygger på samspel mellan familj och företagande, beskrivs omständigheterna vara av både formell och informell karaktär. Den största bristen vid ett misslyckat generationsskifte är att företagsledare inte är tillräckligt förberedda. På grund av bristande planering tenderar många familjeföretag att inte överleva vid sitt första och andra generationsskifte. Forskningen är enig om att vissa omständigheter spelar större roll än andra, samtidigt menar forskare att familjeföretag är unika och därmed olika varandra. Vad som fungerar för en familj i en situation fungerar således inte för en annan familj i en annan situation. Hur dessa teorier ska realiseras i olika familjeföretag utgör därmed studiens problembakgrund, som syftar till att belysa hur dessa aspekter beaktas ur ett strategiskt perspektiv. Syfte: Syftet är att skapa en ingående förståelse om hur mindre familjeföretag formulerar och implementerar strategier kring ett förväntat generationsskifte. Studien syftar även till att beskriva hur den yngre generationen upplever sin roll som efterträdare. Metod: Fallstudier har genomförts i fyra familjeföretag inom olika branscher. I företagen har företrädare och efterträdare intervjuats genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Studien följer en deduktiv ansats där den teoretiska referensramen ligger till grund för problemformulering och intervjufrågor. Studiens teoretiska perspektiv bygger på tre huvuddelar: familj, strategi och generationsskifte vilka utsätts för empirisk granskning och analys. Slutsats: Strategier är vanligt förekommande i företag där generationsskiften är planerade till skillnad från skiften som inte är planerade. Engagemang och roller är avgörande faktorer för hur tidigt processen börjar. Detta ger en positiv effekt för hur efterträdaren upplever sin roll, och uppvisar en tydlig skillnad mellan efterträdare som erhållit kunskap från den äldre generationen mot de som inte erhållit det vid tiden för övertagandet. Efterträdaren agerar i det fallet initialt mer spontant i sitt beslutsfattande där strategierna är framväxande utan tydliga intentioner, för att sedan övergå till mer formella planer ju större kunskapsgenereringen blir. / Background: Succeeding with a generational succession in family businesses requires many coinciding circumstances to become optimal. The circumstances are described as both as formal and informal due to the fact that family businesses constitute an unique form of organization. The biggest shortcoming of a generational succession failure is that leaders are not sufficiently prepared. Due to lack of planning, many family businesses tend not to survive their first and second generational succession. Research shows that certain circumstances play a greater role than others, while researchers also believe that family businesses are unique entities and thus different from one another. What works for one family in a situation will not work for another family in a different situation. The question of how these theories should be realized in different family businesses thus constitutes the study’s problem discussion, which aims to highlight how these aspects are considered from a strategic perspective. Purpose: The purpose is to create an in-depth understanding of how small family businesses formulate and implement strategies for an expected change of generation. This study also aims to describe how the younger generation experiences their role as successor. Method: Case studies have been conducted in four family businesses where predecessors and successors of the family firms have been interviewed. The study applies a deductive approach where the theoretical framework constitutes a basis for problem discussion and interview questions. The study’s theoretical perspective is based on three main parts: family, business strategy and generational succession, which are subjected to empirical review and analysis. Conclusion: Commitment and roles are crucial factors for how early the process of succession planning begins. This generates a positive effect on how the successor experiences his role and shows a clear difference between sucessors who have gained knowledge from an older generation against those who did not recieve it. In that case, the successor initially acts more spontaniously in his decision making, where strategies tends to be emergent without any clear intentions and then move to formal planning as the knowledge generation becomes greater.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:37:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Josenice Regina Blumenthal de Moraes.pdf: 951545 bytes, checksum: 2d936c3060acb6964b736fd6af060cb9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-05-10 / Within family business literature, there are currently many issues about succession, the heirs´ skills and, consequently, about the hopes of their long term survival. The realm of these issues is the main justification for this dissertation, which first considered the ensuing research question: are the heirs in family businesses heard? Following this primary research question, the main objective of this dissertation was developed: to comprehend what it means to be the heir of an ancestor that has built up and left behind a business legacy, and how this fact influences the subject´s life; and, more specifically, try to identify in which ways the heirs life is affected based on the subjects own perceptions about this process. In order to achieve these objectives, a qualitative investigation was carried out with an instrumental case study design grounded in the Systemic Approach of the family and in the Three- Dimensional Model of Family Business Development - which tries to differentiate family relationships from the business context. The analysis was also grounded in the Intergenerational Approach, when dealing with legacy and delegations aspects. The subjects of this research were three heirs that were asked by the researcher herself to join this study. Data was drawn from the recordings of semi-structured interviews carried out with the participants, and also from the following instruments applied: the Constructivist Genogram and the Family Time-Line. Preceding individual data analysis, the analysis was first broadly conducted so to, later on, identify differences and similarities amongst the cases. The results reported individual differences concerning the participants unique life stories and similarities that are constituent of the heir-phenomenon and its influences in their life, which in turn, can be generalized. This dissertation points out paths for further in-depth scientific research, specifically in Brazilian academia, that can help provide further comprehension of the heir-phenomenon within our country s peculiarities / Atualmente existem preocupações a respeito da sucessão dentro de empresas familiares, competências dos herdeiros, e consequentemente, com as expectativas de sua preservação. Essas preocupações justificam a realização desta dissertação considerando a seguinte inquietação: seriam esses herdeiros ouvidos? A partir dessa questão estabeleceu-se seu objetivo geral: compreender como ser herdeiro de um ancestral que construiu um legado empresarial influencia a vida do sujeito, e, especificamente, identificar de que forma a vida desse herdeiro é influenciada, baseando-se em suas percepções sobre esse processo. Para alcançar esses objetivos realizou-se uma investigação qualitativa, com delineamento de estudo de caso instrumental e coletivo fundamentado na Abordagem Sistêmica da família, e no Modelo Tridimensional de Desenvolvimento da Empresa Familiar, que procura diferenciar as relações familiares do contexto da empresa. A compreensão do ser herdeiro também foi tratada sob o enfoque da Abordagem Intergeracional, quanto aos aspectos do que se é legado e do que se delega. Foram sujeitos dessa pesquisa três herdeiros convidados pela pesquisadora. Os dados apresentados originaram-se dos registros de entrevistas semi-estruturadas com os participantes, bem como dos instrumentos aplicados: o Genograma Construtivista e a Linha de Tempo Familiar. Procedeu-se à análise individual dos dados a seguir, de forma coletiva e, posteriormente buscaram-se as diferenças e similitudes entre os casos. Os resultados assinalaram diferenças individuais concernentes à história de vida de cada participante, e similitudes que constituem o fenômeno de ser herdeiro e de suas influências em suas vidas, as quais podem ser generalizadas. Esse estudo apontou para a possibilidade de aprofundamentos teóricos sobre a temática, no meio acadêmico brasileiro, por meio de pesquisas científicas, que venham a auxiliar a compreender o fenômeno do ser herdeiro dentro das peculiaridades de nosso país

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T14:20:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Patricia Bento Goncalves Philadelpho.pdf: 1116504 bytes, checksum: 3170372845f4ebdb946506f71f2fa280 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-03-24 / Evaluation of performance is the theme of this research, which aimed at investigating how a Family Business uses the system of evaluation of performance in the administration of people. The research focused on the system of evaluation of performance as a method for administering people in a family business, in an attempt to put this practice into context, verify how the culture of a family business interferes with the system of evaluation of performance and to gather data about the impact of the results coming from the evaluation of performance in the policies of Human Resources. It is an exploratory and descriptive case study that used the analysis of documents and semi-structured interviews as instruments for collecting data. The interviews were carried out individually with fourteen people; four of the group being managers and directors and ten operational administrative workers from a private organization, with a family makeup, that deals with incorporation and construction, in the municipality of Goiania. The technique for analyzing the data was the graphic analysis of the speech by Lane (1985). Of the authors who provided the theoretical base for the present study Chua, Chrisman and Chang (2004) stand out for the concept of family business and Bernhoeft (1989) for characterizing this type of company, while in organizational culture, Schein s (1991) theoretical perspective was used and for evaluation of performance and administration of people, the studies of Lucena (1992), Gil (2001) and Ribeiro (2005). The analysis of the data gathered indicated that there are convergent points between the perceptions and the administration in relation to the evaluation of performance. As a common point, subjects from both groups perceive the control of production to be permeated by the dominant ideology, as a way of guaranteeing the permanence and competitiveness of the organization in the market. The points of divergence were that the managers and the directors on the one hand perceived the instrument as a possibility for professional development for the workers, as long as these meet the needs of the company, while the workers perceive it as a possibility for finding out which points need to be improved in order to guarantee a promotion or a raise. The results that were obtained suggest that the model of evaluation of performance used by the organization studied suffered alterations due to the difficulties that the directors had in relating the values of the organizational culture to the production rates. Therefore, the evaluation of performance was only used as an instrument of administering people while their results confirmed the practices and decisions relative to the policies of Human Resources. When it threatened to limit the protectionist practices, the data and the evaluation itself were discarded and a new model was sought. In this way it was clear that the evaluation of performance could be an administrative instrument, but subject to the support of the board of directors and to a limited use by policies and interests outside the technique. Through this research it could be seen that there is a program of evaluation of performance inside the company, which is adapted as a way of maintaining its existence, as a guiding document in order to define and implant polices for the administration of people. However, it was understood that the company does not use the information obtained in the evaluation of performance to direct its administrative practices. / Avaliação de Desempenho é o tema da presente pesquisa, que objetivou investigar de que forma uma Empresa Familiar utiliza o sistema de avaliação de desempenho na gestão de pessoas. O trabalho foi desenvolvido visando pesquisar o sistema de avaliação de desempenho como instrumento de gestão de pessoas em uma empresa familiar, no intuito de contextualizar sua prática; verificar como a cultura da empresa familiar interfere no sistema de avaliação de desempenho e levantar dados sobre o impacto dos resultados provenientes da avaliação de desempenho nas políticas de RH. Trata-se de um estudo de caso de caráter descritivo e exploratório, que utilizou como instrumentos para coleta de dados, a análise documental e entrevistas semi-estruturadas. As entrevistas foram realizadas individualmente com quatorze pessoas, sendo quatro do grupo de gerentes e diretores e dez trabalhadores administrativos operacionais, de uma organização privada, de constituição familiar, que atua no ramo de incorporação e construção civil, no município de Goiânia. A técnica para análise dos dados foi a análise gráfica do discurso de Lane (1985). Dos autores que embasaram teoricamente o presente estudo destacam-se Chua, Chrisman e Chang (2004) para conceituar empresa familiar e a de Bernhoeft (1989) para caracterizar este tipo de empresa, em cultura organizacional, utilizou-se a perspectiva teórica de Schein (1991) e na avaliação de desempenho e gestão de pessoas, os estudos de Lucena (1992), Gil (2001) e Ribeiro (2005). A análise dos dados levantados indicou que há pontos de convergência e de divergência entre as percepções dos trabalhadores e dirigentes em relação a avaliação de desempenho. Como ponto em comum, sujeitos de ambos os grupos percebem o controle de produção permeado pela ideologia dominante, como forma de garantir a permanência e competitividade da organização no mercado. Como divergências, gerentes e diretores de um lado percebem o instrumento como uma possibilidade de desenvolvimento profissional dos trabalhadores, desde que estes atendam as expectativas da empresa, enquanto os trabalhadores a percebem como uma possibilidade de conhecer que pontos precisam melhorar para garantir uma promoção ou aumento salarial. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que os modelos de avaliação de desempenho utilizados pela organização estudada sofreram alterações em virtude da dificuldade dos dirigentes em relacionar os valores da cultura organizacional aos indicadores de desempenho. Assim, a avaliação de desempenho só era utilizada como um instrumento de gestão de pessoas enquanto seus resultados legitimaram as práticas e decisões relativas às políticas de RH. Quando ameaçava limitar as práticas protecionistas, os dados e a própria avaliação eram descartados e solicitado um modelo novo. Desse modo, evidencia-se que a avaliação de desempenho pode ser um instrumento de gestão, mas sujeita ao apoio da diretoria e a um uso limitado por políticas e interesses exteriores à técnica. A pesquisa realizada pôde observar que existe um programa de avaliação de desempenho na empresa, o qual é reformulado como forma de manter sua existência, como um documento norteador para definição e implantação de políticas de gestão de pessoas. No entanto, entendeu-se que as informações obtidas na avaliação de desempenho não são utilizadas pela empresa para nortearem suas práticas de gestão.