Leaders of family-owned businesses pay more attention to the attainment of personal and organizational objectives than to leadership succession plans for continuity when they leave the business. Despite the significant contributions of family-owned businesses to the social and economic development of nations, founders and leaders still contend with the challenge of leadership transfer to the next generation. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenology study was to examine the lived experiences of past and current leaders of family-owned businesses in Lagos regarding the challenge of preparing the next generation for leadership succession. The theory of knowledge transfer formed the conceptual framework for the study. Purposeful sampling method was used to select 15 business owners and leaders from 5 family-owned businesses in Lagos. Data collection methods included in-depth and open-ended telephone interviews. The Steve-Colaizzi-Keen design was used to analyze, and code data to identify prevailing themes. Eight themes emerged in the study of which six corroborate some current studies on leadership succession, while the remaining two new themes could be described as potential gaps in the literature. The study findings may help resolve complexities of determining, choosing, and mentoring potential leaders for eventual takeover when there is a vacuum. The results of the study highlighted the need for education or a foundation to support family-owned businesses in southwest Nigeria in the transfer of leadership to successive generations. This could prevent family-owned businesses from going into extinction at the exit of the founders.

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.

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.

Abstract Background The succession process of a family firm is associated with a number of challenges, and hence a potential for conflicts is strongly pronounced. However, succession is of utmost importance for a family firm, as it is the only way to avoid a company closure in the long run. Previous literature has already extensively researched the phenomena of conflicts in family firms. However, there is a lack of research that looks from a multi-perspective lens into the context of succession and post-succession conflicts. Therefore, in the present research, we examine how family businesses experience and cope conflicts that appear after a successfully mastered intrafamily succession. Purpose This study aims to advance the understanding of conflicts in family firms related explicitly to the context of successions and post-successions. Hence, the thesis aims to determine how conflicts that appear in these contexts are experienced and how they are coped with. Method The study follows a qualitative methodological approach and an inductive analysis. The sample consists of three companies and 14 research respondents, and the data was collected with semi-structured qualitative interviews. Afterwards, the data was coded, and the emerging patterns and themes have been formulated and presented with a general model. Doing so, the focus was on patterns of succession- and post-succession-related conflicts and their coping strategies. Conclusion Our findings reveal that succession and post-succession-related conflicts are experienced as evoked intangible and provoked tangible conflicts and these conflicts are consciously as well as unconsciously coped with. Furthermore, our findings suggest that succession and post-succession family firm conflicts appear as conflict loops. Hence, the coping mechanisms identified and presented are helpful to solve a conflict, but the loop can hardly be escaped.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / John E. Grable and Kristy L. Archuleta / The efficient operation and succession of family owned businesses plays a critical role in our national economic health. This study was built upon the Family Business Succession Model, which is based on family systems theory. The impact of owner characteristics, enterprise characteristics, business formalizing activities, family influence, access to resources, and external environmental conditions, all on the extensiveness of family business succession preparedness, was assessed. These results were moderated by the generation of the business. With an exploratory and descriptive methodology, primary survey data were obtained from family business owners in Missouri, Illinois, and Kansas. Research results provide family business advisors with important insight for developing recommendations around improving the extensiveness of family business succession preparedness, provide important policy implications, and serve as a basis for additional theory development in family business succession planning.