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Abstract Background: Micro-sized family businesses are facing great challenges in nowadays competitive markets. Marketing is one of the most essential fields if a company wants to suc-ceed. Traditional marketing reveal more and more disadvantages, with competition that is constantly rising, technological marketing methods that are breaking down geographical bur-dens and consumer markets that are getting more demanding. One way to step away from the traditional marketing patterns and differentiate is the implementation and usage of relation-ship marketing. As a novel strategic method, the focus shifts from the product to building a loyal customer relationship foundation. Purpose: Consequently the purpose of this thesis is to investigate which factors influence an implementation of relationship marketing in micro-size family businesses. Using a case study, we will investigate how the potential theories can be successfully translated into reality when using relationship marketing in micro family firms. For reaching this goal, we will mainly identify several influences that impact a relationship marketing implementation in micro family businesses. Method: The data used for our case study has been collected through email in-terviews. Using an abductive approach and a qualitative analysis we are investigating and analysing specific factors and their influence on relationship marketing in micro family busi-nesses, in particular Casa Canela. Although one case cannot act as a role model and offer generalisable suggestions on all micro sized family firms, it presents an interesting example of one case and we hope that the outcomes and results can offer a guideline and inspiration to other micro family businesses as well. Conclusion: All in all, this thesis suggests that relationship marketing can benefit micro-sized family businesses. Moreover, factors like the owner-managers, the location, the financial situation and long-term goals influence the implementation of this strategy. With the help of our case firm Casa Canela and the analysed factors, we concluded that relationship marketing can provide a solid foundation for a successful business performance in the long-run.

Family business research has explored a number of important questions related to the complexity of intra-organizational family-based involvement (Sharma, 2004; Sharma, Hoy, Astrachen & Koiranen, 2007; Debicki, Matherne III, Kellermanns & Chrisman, 2009; Litz, Pearson & Litchfield, 2011), but the possibility of a potential link between the intentions and actions to facilitate or pursue the voluntary sacrifice by the current generation for generations still to come has largely gone unexplored. I seek to further explore how one’s intention and action, or succession strategy, to eventually pass an enterprise on to the next generation of family potentially influences how one manages that enterprise in the present. I conducted the research using a cross-sectional survey of 218 Manitoba family farms in 2011 to 2012. The data was collected in both an on-line and paper format. I have tested my hypotheses in the Manitoba family farm community to confirm a positive relationship between family farm succession strategy and environmental behaviour while controlling for industry specific measures. The proposed moderators of industry context (resource munificence) and familial context (intergenerational affinity) were not significant. The results provide further support to the notion that within the family business context, succession strategy and environmental behaviours are connected to intergenerational beneficence as “the extent to which members of the present generations are willing to sacrifice their own self-interest for the benefit of future others in the absence of economic or material incentives to present actors for doing so” (Wade-Benzoni & Tost, 2009:166).

Family enterprises comprise the majority of business organizations around the globe and provide significant economic benefit. Yet, continuity and stability with the family business rarely surpasses the second generation. This phenomenon leads to an understanding of the importance of succession. This study suggests transgenerational entrepreneurship and the opportunity for innovation with successive generations may resolve the long-term challenges that confront family businesses in transition. Transgenerational entrepreneurship occurs when families develop and implement entrepreneurial mindsets and capabilities across generations. Utilizing a sample of potential successor of family-owned businesses in the United States from MTurk, this study examines the relationships of entrepreneurial intention and opportunity for innovation on the succession decision made by the potential successor. The study also examines the moderating role of organizational contextual factors that impact the transgenerational entrepreneurship decision.

The significance of the family firm in the South African economic environment is growing each year. This increasing relevance is owing to growth experienced by family businesses in South Africa. Family businesses are found to provide jobs to a large unskilled population in South Africa, and in turn contribute to the stability and growth in the communities in which they operate. However, family firms experience a 70% failure rate in their second generation of operation and an 88% failure rate in their third (Downes, 2011). It is found that one of the major issues in the failure rates of subsequent generations of family businesses is due to the inability of family businesses to manage the dynamics that influence the succession planning process. The aim of this study is to provide insight into the family business’s characteristics, dynamics and practices, primarily those characteristics that govern cross-generational ownership. According to Adendorff and Boshoff (2011), Gupta and Levenburg (2010), Papalexandris and Panayotopoulou (2004) and Taruwinga (2011), the organisational culture is amongst the most important dynamics that influence succession planning. This study therefore focuses on understanding the influence of culture on the succession planning process of family businesses. Eight South African Muslim-owned family businesses have been selected as the sample for the current study and therefore provide a unique insight into the influence of culture on succession planning in family businesses of religious commonality. A Rapid Ethnographic research methodology was adopted to provide insight into the cultural elements of the businesses. Cultural elements were found to influence the planning for the handover, the selection process of the successor, the training and development of the successor, the handover process and the management stage of the businesses. The study found that certain cultural aspects were influenced by religious practices and sentiments stemming from the Islamic belief system. These cultural aspects were found to be the most influential cultural elements in the succession planning process of South African Muslim-owned family businesses. This study therefore implicitly provides insight into the strong influence that religion has on organisational culture and ultimately on succession planning of family businesses. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / zkgibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

Family businesses represent a large proportion of the businesses registered in South Africa today, however very few of these businesses will cease to exist after the first generation. This represents a great loss in skills and wealth transfer, and a chance to contribute to economic growth. Family businesses need to learn how to manage the factors that affect the succession process. Therefore the aim of this study is to provide family business owners and managers with a keen insight of the determinants of successful family business succession.This research project consists of the analysis of eight South African family business case studies. Primary data was collected through semi-structured, in-depth discussions with family members in various capacities of ownership and management in the family business. A conceptual model was created to try and assist family businesses to understand the determinants of successful succession.Five key determinants were identified with a plethora of antecedent factors. The model acts as a mechanism to try and understand the various elements of the family business system and subsystems, and how they interact with each other at different stages of the business life cycle. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The purpose of this research report was to establish what the key contributing factors are towards the long-term sustainability of family owned agribusiness in South Africa. The reason this study was conducted in the agribusiness sector is that 90% of agricultural enterprises in South Africa are reportedly family-owned. Succession was chosen as a key construct, considering the fact that the ability of enterprises to have long-term sustainability is influenced by whether or not they have a plan for succession. A case study method of analysis was used to collect data, which involved interviewing four commercial farming families in the Eastern Free State. It was established from the interviews that each family had unique drivers that enabled or inhibited the succession process. A comparative analysis was conducted to analyse the key factors responsible for a smooth transition and what the barriers were. The research study was also intended to assess how succession planning within South African family-owned agribusinesses was unique. The political context in the country had a major influence on how these farming families would plan for their sustainability going forward. The papers thus examined how these reasons affected black and white commercial farmers differently. The literature that was reviewed was based on the nature of family business succession planning as well as the agriculture sector in both a global and South African context. The theory base used was that of the Conceptual Model of Satisfaction with the Succession Process Sharma et.al. (2003) supported by other theoretical frameworks. The intent was to bring about knowledge that could contribute to the study of family businesses and to find key insights that may be useful to stakeholders in the agricultural sector be it from a firm, advisory, or policy formulating perspective. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Family businesses comprise 80 to 90 percent of all businesses in North America (Shanker & Astrachan, 1996) and account for 60 percent of total U.S. employment (Hutcheson, 1999). Furthermore, 34 percent of the businesses listed on the S&P’s 500 Index are family businesses (Anderson & Reeb, 2003). There are three primary purposes of this dissertation. First, based on a review of the kinship, anthropology, and family business literatures, a definition of family for use in family business research is proposed. Second, specific patterns of family member involvement in a sample of 1,000 family businesses associated with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) are identified in order to conduct further testing regarding the research questions framing this dissertation. Third, the specific patterns identified are utilized to determine if geographic location and/or industry type influence family member involvement in the family business. Furthermore, these patterns are utilized to determine if specific patterns of family member involvement influence intentions for transgenerational succession. Results indicate that the geographic location of the family business as well as the type of industry the family business is operating in do influence specific patterns of family member involvement. Furthermore, the results obtained from investigating the research questions in this dissertation indicate that specific patterns of family member involvement as well as the geographic location of the family business do influence intentions for transgenerational succession. This dissertation contributes to knowledge by proposing a definition of family for use in family business research. Furthermore, this dissertation is one of the first studies to specifically investigate patterns of family member involvement in the family business. Finally, this dissertation utilizes specific patterns of family member involvement to see if any differences in family member involvement arise based on geographic location or industry type as well as whether these specific patterns or the geographic location of the family business influence intentions for transgenerational succession. Recommendations for future theoretical and empirical research as well as practical implications for family business scholars, owners, and managers are also discussed.

Family businesses, in the process of internationalization, beyond the consideration of the economic aspects of international expansion, may take into account non-economic factors and goals aimed at benefiting the family. These non-economic aspects are referred to as socioemotional wealth (SEW). The main question raised in this dissertation is: how does SEW impact the internationalization in family firms? The SEW construct has been considered in previous theoretical and empirical research but, to date, an instrument allowing direct measurement of this phenomenon has not be developed. Therefore, part of this dissertation is dedicated to the development of a measurement instrument allowing for the direct assessment of SEW in terms of its importance to the family firm decision-maker. The scale development procedure is described and the final version of the developed three-dimensional SEW Importance scale is presented. Further, this dissertation includes the development and statistical testing of the model of the impact of SEW on the extent of family firm internationalization, as well as the moderating effect of environmental munificence on the above relationship. This is followed by the discussion of the results, limitations of the study, its contributions and the implications for future research and family firm practice. The aim of this dissertation is to develop a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the importance of SEW in family firms, as well as to further the understanding of the impact that SEW may have on internationalization decisions in family enterprises.

This study focuses on the hiring of nonfamily employees in family firms. Research to date has emphasized the challenges family firms confront in attracting and selecting quality nonfamily human capital. This literature has emphasized the limitations these firms face due to the information asymmetries common to the hiring process. However, this research has not considered the advantages available to family firms through their social network. Drawing on agency theory, I hypothesize that owner referral utilization mediates the relationship between family essence and firm performance because their use lessens the agency conflicts between owners and nonfamily members. Utilizing a sample of 194 family owners, my analysis shows that the utilization of owner referrals mediates the relationship between family essence and firm performance.