The objective of this study is to investigate management succession in black–owned family businesses in South Africa. The study was conducted in two Provinces, namely Limpopo and the North–West. In the Limpopo province, the study was conducted in the Vhembe District. The Vhembe district is consists of four municipalities, i.e. Thulamela, Mutale, Musina and Makhado. In the North–West province, the study was conducted in the Bojanala District. The Bojanala district has three municipalities, namely Phokeng, Marikana and Tlhabane. Family businesses are one of the driving forces behind economic growth in the developed and developing countries. Their general lack of longevity is a cause for concern. Their lack of longevity has mostly been attributed to poor succession management processes which hinder the transfer of the family businesses from one generation to the next generation. It is because of this concern that the research was undertaken in order to provide possible suggestions that the family businesses can adopt and implement in order to ensure a successful transfer of the family business to the next generation family members. The research was conducted by means of a literature and empirical study. The purpose of the literature study was to attain in–dept knowledge of family businesses and management succession. The literature study formed the basis of understanding family businesses and the unique challenges facing such businesses. The literature review has focused on issues such as: the definition of a family business, unique characteristics of family businesses, the advantages and disadvantages of family businesses, challenges to the continuity of family businesses, the definition of succession and succession planning, the importance of management succession, the nature of the succession process, the selection of a successor, mentoring and preparing a successor as well as the complete transfer of management to the successor. The empirical study indicated that successful management succession in family businesses is hindered by a lack of or poor management succession planning, estate and retirement planning, the selection of the successor, the prevention and management of conflict as well as the establishment of family forums which enable effective communication within the family business. Therefore, an investigation of management succession in black–owned family businesses was undertaken due to their lack of longevity as presented in findings from the empirical study. Practical recommendations were suggested to support the family and the business to effectively manage the management succession process in the family businesses. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Business valuations have been an integral part of business for many years, and will stay an important part of business, as valuations are required for multiple reasons. The majority of businesses in South Africa (and the rest of the world) consist of privately-owned companies. A business valuation in general is a complex exercise that can be described as an inexact science. When the business valuation of a privately-owned company is added to the equation, the level of uncertainty is increased with another notch. The valuations of privately-owned companies are therefore a relevant topic. As unsystematic risk in privately-owned companies is difficult to eliminate or mitigate by diversification, this study sets the goal to determine if the advisory departments of the big four audit, tax and advisory firms in South Africa (Ernst & Young, PwC, KPMG and Deloitte & Touch) consider and incorporate unsystematic risk into valuations of privately-owned companies and if it is taken into account, whether it is done objectively. This study firstly focussed on the literature of privately-owned company valuations. The most frequently used approaches are found to be the market approach and the income approach. The asset approach is used to determine the minimum value of a company (the liquidation value). The topic of unsystematic risk is perceived as very much subjective and therefore receptive of manipulation. The second part of the study uses the mixed method approach to collect empirical data, using survey questionnaires and follow-up interviews (which are based on the literature review). It was found that the preferred valuation approaches used by the participants are indeed the income approach followed by the market approach. It seems that these two approaches are used in conjunction with one another. Incorporating unsystematic risk is done in line with what the literature proposes, but as professional judgement is needed, the process is never entirely objective. Participants tend to agree that the identification and quantification of unsystematic risk are not entirely objective and that it is possible to use unsystematic risk as a device to bring the final results of a valuation in line with the clients‟ objective. This study recommends that a professional valuation body should be formed to regulate valuations in South Africa. This body should set valuation standards. It is furthermore recommended that the asset approach is used as a reasonableness test when going concern companies are valued, and to consider the use of CAPM variants (e.g. modified CAPM, the local CAPM, the Build-up method etc.) and non-CAPM variants (Estrada model and the EHV model) to determine the cost of equity when the income approach is followed, as is suggested by the literature. The practical implication of the study is that the research can be used as starting point by role-players in the valuations sector to open the discussion on the topic formally so that valuation practitioners can engage with one another and work towards a professional valuation body and valuation standards. The limitations of the study are that only top-level employees were used as the representatives of firms and the population only includes the big four audit, advisory and taxation firms. Areas for further research include extending the population to three strata, viz. big four firms, medium-sized firms and small-sized firms. Comparative valuations on a case study can be performed by the different approaches of each stratum using unsystematic risk as the only variable (if themes are identified in strata). Conclusions can be made based on the outcomes of the valuations to determine the impact when different approaches are followed. / Thesis (M.Com. (Management Accountancy))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

In recent years, succession has become a major theme in family business research. Much of the research effort has concentrated on the managerial dimension of succession, often subordinating the importance of other major variables such as family relationship dynamics and the form of business ownership on the succession outcome. Family enterprises are generally conceptualised as a dynamic, evolving systems in which the actions and interactions taking place amongst constituent groups determine the system's outputs. This study aimed to overcome the limitations of examining only one dimension of a system's activities by carrying out a longitudinal holistic analysis of the evolution of the family enterprise system as it went through the process of generational transition. The research for this thesis employed the multiple case study method to investigate the influence of emotional and developmental factors on the ability of business-owning families to make progress with the tasks required to complete a generational transition. Three specific issues were examined: the nature of the task environment facing the family enterprise system over the duration of the transition period; the approaches used by families to address the tasks required for them to move through the stages making up the transition process; and the extent to which emotional and developmental factors prevented or promoted progress being made with the generational transition. The results reveal that families face the same sequence of stages in the generational transition process. However, they differ in their ability to move through these stages, towards closure of the transition period and the achievement of a succession outcome, Importantly, the degree to which individuals and families are able to make progress is related to their ability to manage the anxiety generated during the transition process. Anxiety is created when the structures or network of interrelationships that hold their family enterprise system intact are evaluated and may be dismantled and reconstructed differently for the next stage in the system's development. The study supports the view that anxiety is generated during transition times when developmental pressures for change build up from changes taking place in the life-cycles underway within the family enterprise system. It also supports the view that developmental pressure (such as a crisis) from the business subsystem alone does not lead to transition task activity and progress. Progress in response to business sub-system pressure comes about when the opportunity exists to solve an ongoing adult development problem by implementing a solution to a transition task problem. The ability to manage anxiety was found to be related to both the quality of emotional functioning in the family and the extent to which the adult development agendas of both generations are in alignment. Favourable alignment brought a developmental opportunity for the individuals concerned. It allowed them to do the exploratory work required in order to assess the extent to which the family business could provide part of their life structure for the next phase of their development. However, in addition to adult development generational alignment, the study confirmed that the quality of emotional functioning in the family (their ability to overcome multigenerational patterns of functioning and behaviour) influenced the family's ability to make progress with ownership transfer and other tasks. The study concludes that emotional and developmental influences are mediating factors between the forces for change originating in the family enterprise system and its environment and the ability of those in the system to respond to the need for change and manage the transition process. It also found that families significantly underestimate the nature and complexity of the work involved in the transition process, as well as the timescale and emotional commitment required to complete the transition.

Questions about the role of the "informal sector" color much of the discussion of urban economic development in poor countries. Why is there an informal sector (and how to define it)? Are informal businesses stagnant or dynamic, and can they contribute to development? In the small Bolivian city of Sucre, site of this study, there is no "informal sector"; rather, the entire economy demonstrates informal characteristics. With a handful of exceptions, businesses are all very small and household centered. Most manufacturing is done by hand or with simple machines, and informal labor and trade relationships predominate. This thesis describes Sucre's producers, especially chocolate-makers and carpenters, and the local organizations which work with them to promote business growth. Despite attempts by local NGOs, grassroots organizations, and business people, Sucre' businesses stay, small and informal. The reasons for this include: (A) the size and composition of the local market; (B) the problems of trust and contract enforcement which raise transaction costs (for hiring workers, contracting distributors and forming partnerships); (C) the inability to "catch up" with more efficient, mechanized competitors in neighboring countries; and (D) a tendency for households to diversify their investments as a response to risk and uncertain markets. The main problem impeding business growth in Sucre is not the businesses' informality (which is principally a result of their smallness), but the local social, economic and institutional environment in which they must work. This is an environment in which business owners have learned to survive and even, occasionally, prosper, but one which they have thus far been unable to change.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the emerging characteristics of Asian women entrepreneurs in South Australia. This research also aims to improve current understanding of the existing literature of ethnic entrepreneurship and female entrepreneurship, especially as Asian women are rising in entrepreneurship. Business ownership is a significant opportunity for women in the business world. While there have been studies of ethnic entrepreneurship with partial concentration on women's participation in their family businesses, the majority of studies assume that ethnic women are a homogeneous group. Asian women entrepreneurs appear to bring together not only ethnic opportunities but also personal characteristics to enhance their business performance. It is, therefore, important to examine what contributes to the success of Asian women entrepreneurs in South Australia and understand how these Asian women entrepreneurs balance Australian and Asian business and personal values. This research is designed to be a simple and descriptive study using the experiences of 16 Asian women entrepreneurs, while not comparing the samples with anyone else's. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2007.

Familiness has become widely accepted as the appropriate construct representing the unique bundle of resources arising out of family involvement in business. However as yet we do not fully understand the types of familiness or the conditions that give rise to them and as such familiness remains in need of further exploration. This research explores the familiness construct and its role in perpetuating entrepreneurial activity in the family business through the development and deployment of an entrepreneurial orientation (EO) over multiple generations. The Resource-Based View (RBV) is the adopted firm level framework used to identify the unique bundle of family resources that represent familiness. These resources are then explored for their contribution to nurturing and perpetuating an EO, thereby creating a source of competitive advantage. The research also explores the association of EO to the achievement of the firm’s nonfinancial objectives. Using exploratory in-depth qualitative case studies of four multigenerational Australian family firms, data was collected via semi-structured interviews, observations, and secondary documents. NVivo assisted with the coding and analysis of data to identify common patterns and themes from both within-case and across-case analyses.Six resource dimensions were found to represent the familiness resource bundle: reputation, experience – insights and skills, learning, decision-making, relationships, and networks. These resource dimensions, identified by their prevalence across all four cases, are spread across the resource categories (human, organizational, and process) and thus confirm the widespread potential of the family’s influence in business. The resource dimensions displayed a paradoxical nature and the ability to manage these paradoxes enabled these firms to exploit their familiness advantages (f+) and simultaneously mitigate the disadvantages (f-). Managing the paradoxical nature was central to the multigenerational success of these firms. Three of the six dimensions (experience – insights and skills, decision-making, and networks) were instrumental in influencing the development of the firm’s EO while three other dimensions (reputation, learning, and relationships) were more closely aligned with a market, learning, and communication orientation. The findings also suggest that family firms are better able to address non-financial objectives when they have strong EOs that engaged them in entrepreneurial activities. All interpretations of the findings are integrated into a conceptual model for future empirical analysis.The study contributes to research by identifying six dimensions (familiness resources model) that constitute the familiness resource bundle and through which family influence is most prevalent and best examined within the business. The study suggests that the paradoxical nature of these dimensions highlights conditions that give rise to familiness advantages (f+) or disadvantages (f-) and that managing these paradoxes gives rise to sustained competitive advantage. The study also proposes that the family is most influential in driving the firm’s EO: by being exposed to internal and external experiences that heighten their ability for opportunity recognition; by balancing the process (informal or formal), speed (fast or slow), and forum (concentrated or collaborative) of decisions; and by integrating and exploiting the firm’s strong and weak network ties. Finally the study confirms a close association between a firm’s EO and its non-financial objectives. The study thus encourages family firms to pursue entrepreneurial activity, not only because it sustains their livelihood over generations, but because it also assists in meeting the family’s non-financial objectives.

Familiness has become widely accepted as the appropriate construct representing the unique bundle of resources arising out of family involvement in business. However as yet we do not fully understand the types of familiness or the conditions that give rise to them and as such familiness remains in need of further exploration. This research explores the familiness construct and its role in perpetuating entrepreneurial activity in the family business through the development and deployment of an entrepreneurial orientation (EO) over multiple generations. The Resource-Based View (RBV) is the adopted firm level framework used to identify the unique bundle of family resources that represent familiness. These resources are then explored for their contribution to nurturing and perpetuating an EO, thereby creating a source of competitive advantage. The research also explores the association of EO to the achievement of the firm’s nonfinancial objectives. Using exploratory in-depth qualitative case studies of four multigenerational Australian family firms, data was collected via semi-structured interviews, observations, and secondary documents. NVivo assisted with the coding and analysis of data to identify common patterns and themes from both within-case and across-case analyses.Six resource dimensions were found to represent the familiness resource bundle: reputation, experience – insights and skills, learning, decision-making, relationships, and networks. These resource dimensions, identified by their prevalence across all four cases, are spread across the resource categories (human, organizational, and process) and thus confirm the widespread potential of the family’s influence in business. The resource dimensions displayed a paradoxical nature and the ability to manage these paradoxes enabled these firms to exploit their familiness advantages (f+) and simultaneously mitigate the disadvantages (f-). Managing the paradoxical nature was central to the multigenerational success of these firms. Three of the six dimensions (experience – insights and skills, decision-making, and networks) were instrumental in influencing the development of the firm’s EO while three other dimensions (reputation, learning, and relationships) were more closely aligned with a market, learning, and communication orientation. The findings also suggest that family firms are better able to address non-financial objectives when they have strong EOs that engaged them in entrepreneurial activities. All interpretations of the findings are integrated into a conceptual model for future empirical analysis.The study contributes to research by identifying six dimensions (familiness resources model) that constitute the familiness resource bundle and through which family influence is most prevalent and best examined within the business. The study suggests that the paradoxical nature of these dimensions highlights conditions that give rise to familiness advantages (f+) or disadvantages (f-) and that managing these paradoxes gives rise to sustained competitive advantage. The study also proposes that the family is most influential in driving the firm’s EO: by being exposed to internal and external experiences that heighten their ability for opportunity recognition; by balancing the process (informal or formal), speed (fast or slow), and forum (concentrated or collaborative) of decisions; and by integrating and exploiting the firm’s strong and weak network ties. Finally the study confirms a close association between a firm’s EO and its non-financial objectives. The study thus encourages family firms to pursue entrepreneurial activity, not only because it sustains their livelihood over generations, but because it also assists in meeting the family’s non-financial objectives.

The concept of strategic entrepreneurship has received increased attention over the past ten years. Viewed as the intersection of entrepreneurship and strategy, this field of research is populated by conceptual studies which focus mainly on the nature and perceived benefits of strategic entrepreneurship. Similarly, the study of entrepreneurship in a public sector context has gained increasing support in recent years, but also remains underexplored. To address these gaps, this thesis considers: What are the underlying elements and financial implications of strategic entrepreneurship in New Zealand’s state-owned enterprises [SOEs]? New Zealand’s SOE sector, comprising 17 government-owned, commercially focused organisations, is considered to be a prime subject for this research. Well known for their implementation of new public management [NPM], many New Zealand SOEs have also been publicly recognised as both innovative and entrepreneurial. The research question is addressed by first developing a preliminary framework of strategic entrepreneurship from literature on entrepreneurship and strategy. This framework is then examined in the context of case studies on activity which is entrepreneurial and/or strategic within 12 of the 17 SOEs operating in New Zealand as at 2006. Transcripts from a series of interviews, and publicly available documents are analysed thematically. SOEs’ financial statements over a five year period are also analysed. The thesis contributes in two broad areas. First, much-needed empirical support is lent to the concept of strategic entrepreneurship. Key elements of strategic entrepreneurship identified include opportunity identification, innovation, acceptance of risk, flexibility, vision, growth, and leveraging from core skills and resources such that existing knowledge and skills are transferred and applied to create new products, services, and markets. Important supporting elements identified include an open, flexible, and progressive culture, operational excellence, and cost minimisation. The nature of each of these elements is also investigated. A detailed understanding of the relationship between strategic entrepreneurship and wealth creation reveals various internal and external factors which may influence the nature and strength of the relationship. These factors include changes within the organisation, as well as changes in the economic and political environment, and are important influences on the resulting returns realised. Second, this thesis offers valuable evidence in support of emerging change in the public sector towards the adoption of strategic entrepreneurship. Support for the value of NPM is provided, with clear evidence of financial returns from New Zealand’s SOE sector. Further, a key finding is the structured and systematic approach to entrepreneurial activity within the context of NPM in several New Zealand SOEs. Such behaviour is referred to in this thesis as new public entrepreneurship. This form of activity offers the potential for competitive advantage and financial gain traditionally associated with entrepreneurial activity, but also limits the respective risks through its structured, systematic approach.

Thesis (M.B.A.) - Carleton University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 80-85). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Mémoire (M.P.M.O.)--Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 1990. / Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU