Family businesses constitute a large number of businesses worldwide contributing significantly to the global economy. Succession planning is a key issue influencing the sustainability of these family businesses. According to research, approximately 30% of businesses fail due to matters related to succession planning (Grote, 2003). Further research indicated that approximately 50% of family businesses do not have adequate succession plans in place. Hence, family businesses are exposed to significant risk in sustainability due to insufficient succession planning. An effective approach to succession planning in a family business increases the chance of success of a family business in both the short and long term. The purpose of this study was to develop a better understanding of approaches to succession planning in two family businesses in East London, South Africa. This purpose was to improve the commercial viability of family businesses and improve the body of knowledge from an academic perspective. To this end, a detailed literature study was conducted on family businesses and succession planning. A qualitative case study research paradigm was implemented to ascertain the nature of the approaches adopted by the two businesses. An interview process was conducted with the incumbent founders (fathers) and successors (sons) of the family business. This process suggested that each business requires a unique approach to succession plan which may include aspects of formal and informal processes. It is necessary to understand the nature of the family business, its interrelated relationships and context to adequately determine the success of a succession approach. It is for this reason that families aspiring long term sustainability should invest in effective succession planning approaches that integrate the nuances of the individual family business.

Taking cognisance of the increasingly important role that copreneurial businesses play in national economies, the unique challenges that they face, and the lack of research attention given to such spousal teams, the purpose of this study was to contribute to the more effective functioning of copreneurships in South Africa by identifying the factors that impact on their success. Consequently, the primary objective of this study was to investigate the factors that influence the Perceived success of copreneurships in South Africa, as well as the conditions required for the effective and harmonious functioning of such spousal partnerships. This study seeks to incorporate previous findings and studies on team effectiveness and spousal relationships into a comprehensive conceptual model. After conducting a comprehensive literature study, as well as examining the different teamwork models proposed and the study by Farrington (2009), it became clear that successful teams have validated their proficiency with regard to two types of factors, namely, relational-based and organisational-based factors. Within these two categories of factors, 14 independent variables were identified and hypothesised to influence the measures of effectiveness of copreneurships, namely the dependent variable Perceived success; and the intervening variable Financial performance. All of the factors in this study were clearly defined and operationalised. Reliable and valid items sourced from Farrington’s (2009) measuring instrument, as well as several measuring instruments used in other studies, were used in the operationalisation of these factors. In addition, several items were self-generated from secondary sources. Respondents were identified using the convenience snowball sampling technique, and a structured questionnaire was made available to them. The data gathered from the 380 usable questionnaires was subjected to various statistical analyses. The validity and reliability of the measuring instrument was confirmed by means of an exploratory factor analysis, and Cronbach-alpha coefficients were calculated for this purpose. The original intervening variable Financial performance could not be confirmed as originally intended in the conceptual model. Instead, Financial performance split into v two separate variables which were named Financial performance and Growth performance. The original dependent variable Perceived success was confirmed by the factor analyses. The relational- and organisational-based factors could not be confirmed as originally intended in the conceptual model. Instead, seven new relational- and seven new organisational-based factors emerged, and where necessary these factors were renamed. The primary statistical procedure used to test the significance of the relationships hypothesised between the independent and dependent variables in this study, was Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Owing to the sample-size restrictions, the conceptual model could not be subjected to SEM as a whole. Instead, seven submodels were identified and subjected to further analysis. The following independent variables were identified as influencing the dependent and intervening variables in this study: • Spousal relationship • Commitment to spouse • Equal status • Commitment to the business • Emotional attachment • Non-family involvement • Personal needs alignment • Leadership • Competencies • Internal context In order to investigate the influence of the various demographic variables on the intervening and dependent variables, an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Multiple Linear Regression analysis and t-tests were performed. How leadership occurs in a copreneurial business, the tenure of the business, the location of the business, the status of the copreneurship, the level of spousal involvement in the business and the vi number of employees were found to have an influence on the intervening and dependent variables of this study. By empirically investigating copreneurships, this study has added to the limited amount of family business literature on these complex partnerships. By way of the conceptual models developed in this study a significant contribution has been made towards understanding the factors influencing the success of copreneurships. As a result, this study presents recommendations and suggestions to assist couples in managing their copreneurships in such a way as to nurture their marriage relationships and at the same time enhance the performance of their businesses.

Thesis advisor: Hans de Wit / The family ownership context has been investigated across many business settings, within the manufacturing, trade, and services industries. The consensus among scholars has been that families that own and operate firms act in self-serving ways and frame organizational problems and make decisions with the primary goal of satisfying the family’s affective needs, i.e., preserve or augment what is referred to as socioemotional wealth. However, the theoretical reasoning of socioemotional wealth theory may fall apart in traditional university settings, where self-serving behaviors may lead to (pronounced) agency conflict. Universities have been long understood for their politicized governance environs in which multiple stakeholder groups have representation in decision-making. Within this reality, families involved in higher education management may be challenged to act self-servingly and protect or enhance certain socioemotional wealth. They may need to act in altruistic ways to avoid agency conflict. I investigate whether this is the case through a single, critical case study approach conducted at one family-owned or -managed university in India. I rely on what Yin (2003) refers to as “rival explanation as patterns” to test socioemotional theory relative to a rival theoretical framework. I ask the important question of whether this rival theory can address the limitations of socioemotional wealth theory when applied to the higher education context. As expected, findings generally suggest that where socioemotional wealth theory fails to capture family decision-making behaviors, the rival theory is relevant. This finding is important to consider and has several implications to theory, practice, and future research. Importantly, the findings support that current family-owned business theorizing is not enough to capture family decision-making behaviors in the context of traditional university settings. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

This study investigates an appropriate accrual-based model in detecting earnings management (EM) of Chinese firms undergoing initial public offering (IPO) process. The mainstream literatures show that state-owned enterprise (SOE) has involved with less earnings management (EM) than non-state-owned enterprise (NSOE) in pre-IPO market from 2003 to 2009. The reason is that SOE could borrow money from bank, compared to NSOE. However, SOE has been proven to conduct stronger EMs in pre-IPO market during 2011 to 2013 by manipulating with property plant and equipment (PPE), the flows of account receivable (AR) and long-term debt (LTD). Besides, I also suggest a new accrual-based model that could better fit into the unique features of Chinese firms in their process of IPO application.

China is a country built on traditions and one of its most respected traditions is a preference for the family unit. The closeness of the family unit is carried over into the economic life of the country. Family members not only live together, but also work together in the fields or in enterprises. The advantage of this is that families have a guaranteed labour force that is not only loyal and can also be trusted. The disadvantage however is that positioning within the business is not always based on merit and competence, or trustworthiness which can ultimately impede growth. This research was an examination of Chinese family-owned businesses that focused on their management practices. The purpose of the study was to explore the management characteristics of Chinese family-owned businesses by means of interview data collected from five Chinese businesses in the Cape Metropolitan area. The emphasis of the project concentrated on the establishment, expansion and growth, ownership and leadership, management structure, the impact of cultural factors and the strategy for the future as well as challenges in terms of competitors and environments.

This work collected four years of financial data from an employee-owned firm and a traditionally-owned firm from the same industry. The data were then organized to provide measures of three dimensions of corporate performance: (1) employee turnover, (2) productivity, and (3) profitability. Based upon a review of the literature, employee stock ownership plans (ESOP) are reported to enhance corporate performance after their adoption. Additionally, ESOPs are purported to perform better than traditionally-owned companies. This dissertation developed hypotheses to ascertain whether or not the particular ESOP used in this study conformed to these expectations. The first set of three hypotheses was tested using multiple regression techniques to determine if the ESOP experienced a reduction in turnover, an improvement in productivity, and an increase in profitability following its conversion to employee-ownership. The results of the regressions found that there was no incremental significance. There was no improvement noted in the performance of the ESOP firm. Another component of this investigation was to determine whether improvements in corporate performance were temporary or permanent phenomena. This portion of the research was rendered superfluous when no improvements were available for analysis. The final question that was examined was whether the ESOP would demonstrate better performance than a traditionally-owned control firm during the post-intrusion period. There was no significant difference discovered in productivity and profitability. A marked difference was identified in terms of turnover. However, it was the traditionally-owned firm which performed better than the employee-owned firm—the opposite of what was predicted. These findings, although interesting, had to be evaluated as inconclusive because of innate differences between the treatment and control firms. The variance between the two companies may be attributed to such factors as company size and marked differences in their respective labor markets. The ESOP used in this study did not demonstrate any of the changes in performance that had been predicted.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how eight private and state-owned Swedish companies report their CSR-work, to then compare and analyze how the form of ownership can affect the shape of the annual sustainability reports.  Method:  This study uses a qualitative method based on a deductive research approach. The study implements a comparative research design and applies a text analysis to analyze and identify specific differences among the company’s sustainability reports.   Empiricism and Analysis: The empirical part presents a brief description of the selected companies and a description of the identifying themes that are repeated in all of the company’s sustainability reports. Then, a deeper analysis is carried out that combines the study's reference frameworks with help of the study’s analysis model that is based on the selected theories.  Conclusions: The conclusion that can be drawn is that the form of ownership is not the deciding factor in the shape of the sustainability reports. What has mainly affected the outcome is the companies branch of industry, which has affected both the reporting of the environmental activities and financial incentives in the form of investment. For the remaining aspects, no specific differences have existed from the ownership perspective. The form of ownership has affected the company’s insight of CSR and sustainability work with influence from the stakeholders. The study's results also show that the government for the state-owned companies was the most important player while customers and suppliers were more central to the privately-owned companies. / Syfte: Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka hur åtta privat- och statligt ägda svenska företag redovisar för sitt CSR-arbete, jämföra samt analysera hur ägandeformen kan påverka utformningen av hållbarhetsredovisning. Metod: Studien använder sig utav en kvalitativ metod som bygger på en deduktiv forskningsansats. Studien implementerar en komparativ forskningsdesign och tillämpar en textanalys för att analysera och identifiera specifika skillnader bland de olika företagens hållbarhetsredovisningar. Empiri och analys: I den empiriska delen presenteras en kort beskrivning av valda företag samt en redovisning av de återkommande identifierande teman som upprepas i de valda hållbarhetsrapporteringarna. Sedan genomförs en djupare analys som sammanfogar studiens referensramar med hjälp av en analysmodell som utgår från de tillämpande teorierna. Slutsatser: Slutsatsen som kan dras är att ägandeformen inte är den avgörande faktorn i utformningen av hållbarhetsrapporterna. Det som har påverkat utfallet främst är företagens branschtillhörighet som har inverkar både rapportering av de miljömässiga aktiviteterna samt ekonomiska incitament i form av investering. För de resterande aspekterna har inga specifika skillnader funnits utifrån ägarperspektivet. Ägandeformen har påverkat företagens uppfattning av CSR och hållbarhetsarbete med inflytande från intressenterna sida. Studiens resultat visar även att staten för de statligt ägda företagen är mest betydelsefull aktör medan kunder och leverantörer är mer centrala för de privatägda företagen.

Prior literature focuses on the causes and effects of ownership concentration between significant blockholders and minority shareholders. Anecdotal evidence shows that it is also important to look at the causes and effects of ownership concentration within controlling families as family ownership can become diffused after generations. Family trust is a popular vehicle for holding family ownership. It allows a founder to concentrate firm ownership on a long-term basis, preventing control loss after he/she steps down. Family members can enjoy control benefits such as preservation of their family intangible assets. However, there is tradeoff. Family members cannot resolve their conflicts by acquiring and selling off shares among them, since they are no longer the legal owners of the shares. / Using a sample of 216 family firms listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with time series data spanning 1990--2008, I investigate the causes and effects of ownership concentration by means of family trust. I fmd that when family control is important (when there exists a large amount of family intangibles), there is a higher propensity that family trust is used to concentrate ownership and secure control, provided that the cost of using it is low (small family size hence low family conflict). However, when there are more and more family members after generations, the benefit of preserving the intangibles may not be high enough to cover the cost of potential family conflict, leading to firm value loss. Moreover, the cost of using trust magnifies during difficult periods such as financial distress, economic downturn and leadership succession. Hence, firms with high potential family conflict have poorer performance during difficult time if family trust is used for holding the firm's controlling stake. Family trust also induces common pool problem. Family members tend to extract resources from the family firm as much and as early as possible, leading to higher payout and slower firm growth. / Leung, Siu Ching. / Adviser: Joseph P. H. Fan. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-03, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 58). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

Lau Yuen-ke. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-123). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Abstract in Chinese --- p.iii / Acknowledgements --- p.iv / Table of Contents --- p.v / List of Tables --- p.vi / Chapter Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2. --- Literature Review --- p.5 / Chapter Chapter 3. --- Hypothesis --- p.24 / Chapter Chapter 4. --- Methodology --- p.43 / Chapter Chapter 5. --- Sample Description --- p.53 / Chapter Chapter 6. --- Empirical Results --- p.61 / Chapter Chapter 7. --- Conclusion --- p.72 / Appendix 1. Definitions and calculations of variables --- p.75 / Appendix 2. Piecewise linear regression model suggested by Morck et al(1988) --- p.82 / Appendix 3. Tables --- p.87 / Bibliography --- p.122

本論文研究華人家族企業與華人家族之間的互動關係，並且以南洋兄弟煙草公司和簡氏家族作為本論文的個案研究。在論文中，將討論家族如何與為何影響公司的擁有權、控制權、公司經營和未來發展。同時，也將討論公司如何且為何影響一個家族的成立與擴張，與其他家庭的關係，以及如何從家族變成宗族。 / 在結論中，我將指出簡氏家族是一個成員不多的小家族，因此必須依賴親戚和廣東同鄉來經營。此外，雖然他們可藉著與簡氏家族的關係而進入南洋，但是他們在南洋的升遷與發展，則依賴他們的表現和與簡家的關係變化。因此在華人家族企業中，家族成員、親戚與同鄉可通過他們與家族的關係而進入企業工作，但是他們的未來取決於他們對公司的貢獻與表現，以及他們與家族之間的關係有何變化。 / 大部分的簡家成員是通過他們在海外的工作經驗而接觸並學習現代化技術，而非通過教育。此外，雖然簡氏家族在引入現代化技術以改善南洋的生產和管理，並且看似大膽且現代化，但實際上當他們在公司的權利可能因而受影響時，他們則表現得保守與傳統。因此，華人家族企業的現代化取決與華人家族企業的擁有權和控制權是否遭受威脅。如果擁有權和控制權不受影響，現代化的改革則得以實施，不然將仍然保留傳統的模式。現代化並非單純的零和模式，因此許多華人家族企業是現代與傳統的混合體。 / 由於與政治界缺乏有效的方式與溝通，南洋與簡氏家族都不可避免地受到政府的影響，無力拒絶政府的要求並為他們自己爭取更好的機會。如同民國時期其他商人與企業，當中國出現大一統政府時，他們就無法取得比較好的機會與待遇。 / 本研究也為華人家族企業指出了四個新理論。第一，當華人家族企業為股份公司時，其擁有權將影響其控制權。第二，家族成員、親戚與鄉親可進入公司，但他們的地位取決於其貢獻與表現，以及他們與家族的關係。第三，華人家族企業的現代化，取決於家族是否可保有對公司的擁有權和控制權。第四 ，企業家精神有時對公司不是好處，而是壞處。 / The thesis is a research based on a case study of the inter-relation of a Chinese family firm and a Chinese family: the Nanyang Brothers Tobacco Company and the Jian family. The article will be discussing on the rationale and practices that influence a firm on its ownership, authority, operations and developments; In addition, the ground of these influences towards its family growth, expansion, connection with other families, eventually leading to a lineage evolution. / Throughout the study, I have indicated that the Jian family is a small family. Hence, most of its members have to rely on their paternal and maternal relatives, or the Cantonese fellows to operate Nanyang. In the beginning stage, this group of family members could obtain a position in Nanyang through relationship with the Jian family. However, their career paths in Nanyang are subject to their performances and the changes of relationship with the Jian family at some point in the future. / In spite of ample working experience gained in overseas, most members from the Jian family did not learn about modernization through academic choice. Notwithstanding the evidence that the Jian family has introduced the modern skills and technology into the process of Nanyang’s manufacturing and management, it is unlikely that the authority could forgo the conventional methodology in order to adapt to the advanced formulas. Over and above that, this group of family members regards this phenomenon as a disadvantage towards their position in Nanyang. The threat level of present authority and ownership determines the success rate of the evolution within a Chinese family firm. Modernization could be realized if only the present authority were not affected. However, the evolution within a firm is not a zero-sum game. And therefore, many of the Chinese family firms adapt to the integration of modern and conventional management approach. / The lack of communication efficiency between the local government and Jian family, as well as Nanyang is the fundamental of its political position. Due to its political positioning, Nanyang unavoidably faces difficulties in declining requests from the government and to strive for greater opportunities. Like any other merchants during the Republican Era of China, they could not gain a better treatment under these circumstances. / The research indicated four principles for these Chinese family firms. Firstly, when a Chinese family firm is also a stock corporate at the same time, its ownership of the company’s share will directly impact on its individual authority. Secondly, family members, relatives, and fellows could achieve an easy entry into a Chinese family firm based on its relationship. However, the career paths in the firm are subject to their individual performances and the relationship with the family. Thirdly, the threat level of present authority and ownership determines the success rate of the evolution within a Chinese family firm. Modernization could be realized if only the present authority were not affected. Otherwise, modernization will be denied at the initial stage. Lastly, entrepreneurship is a double-edged sword. It allows a firm to unleash its greatness; or, a significant drawback. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Chong, Henry Ren Jie. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 277-292). / Abstracts also in Chinese.