IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/ngooec/v66y2020i1p13-22n2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ageing Entrepreneurs and Business Transfer Challenges in Croatia

Author

Listed:
  • Juric Petra Mezulić

    (Faculty of Economics, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia)

  • Alpeza Mirela

    (Faculty of Economics, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia)

  • Peterka Sunčica Oberman

    (Faculty of Economics, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia)

Abstract

Business transfer as a research topic awakened the interest of researchers in the past few decades. Business transfer is defined as a change of ownership of any firm to another person or legal entity assuring the continuous existence and commercial activity of the enterprise, and it encompasses different kinds of transfers both to family and non-family members. Ageing and consequently retirement are often mentioned as the reasons for entrepreneurs’ exits from the companies and intention to initiate the business transfer process. A successful business transfer process is one of the key prerequisites for long-term sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises. There is a significant number of ageing business owners in Croatia who will exit their companies in the coming years. Considering the number of these entrepreneurs and the influence their exits can have on company stakeholders and national economy in general, it is of great importance to better understand the factors that can influence the choice of their exit strategies. The aim of the paper is to provide an understanding of the dilemmas that the ageing entrepreneurs face when considering different exit modes. The data for the study was collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with six ageing business owners. The analysis of the interviews enabled the identification of the challenges that ageing entrepreneurs face in the business transfer process: emotional attachment to the firm, strong preference for family succession and concerns about financial security after retirement. Some of these challenges are a result of the undeveloped business transfer ecosystem, strong tradition and cultural values that imply family succession as the only acceptable exit strategy for retiring company owners in Croatia.

Suggested Citation

  • Juric Petra Mezulić & Alpeza Mirela & Peterka Sunčica Oberman, 2020. "Ageing Entrepreneurs and Business Transfer Challenges in Croatia," Naše gospodarstvo/Our economy, Sciendo, vol. 66(1), pages 13-22, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:ngooec:v:66:y:2020:i:1:p:13-22:n:2
    DOI: 10.2478/ngoe-2020-0002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/ngoe-2020-0002
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/ngoe-2020-0002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. DeTienne, Dawn R., 2010. "Entrepreneurial exit as a critical component of the entrepreneurial process: Theoretical development," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 203-215, March.
    2. Morten Bennedsen & Kasper Meisner Nielsen & Francisco Perez-Gonzalez & Daniel Wolfenzon, 2007. "Inside the Family Firm: The Role of Families in Succession Decisions and Performance," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 647-691.
    3. Taylor, Mark P, 1999. "Survival of the Fittest? An Analysis of Self-Employment Duration in Britain," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 109(454), pages 140-155, March.
    4. Leo Paul Dana & Veland Ramadani, 2015. "Family business in transition economies: management, succession and internationalization," Post-Print hal-02086918, HAL.
    5. Isabelle Le Breton–Miller & Danny Miller & Lloyd P. Steier, 2004. "Toward an Integrative Model of Effective FOB Succession," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 28(4), pages 305-328, July.
    6. B. Deschamps & S. Durst, 2012. "External takeover of small- and medium-sized enterprises: What do we know," Post-Print halshs-00787399, HAL.
    7. Morris, Michael H. & Williams, Roy O. & Allen, Jeffrey A. & Avila, Ramon A., 1997. "Correlates of success in family business transitions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 385-401, September.
    8. Sarasvathy, Saras D., 2004. "The questions we ask and the questions we care about: reformulating some problems in entrepreneurship research," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 707-717, September.
    9. Pramodita Sharma & James J. Chrisman & Amy L. Pablo & Jess H. Chua, 2001. "Determinants of Initial Satisfaction with the Succession Process in Family Firms: A Conceptual Model," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 25(3), pages 17-36, April.
    10. Sharma, Pramodita & Chrisman, James J. & Chua, Jess H., 2003. "Predictors of satisfaction with the succession process in family firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 667-687, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mattias Nordqvist & Karl Wennberg & Massimo Bau’ & Karin Hellerstedt, 2013. "An entrepreneurial process perspective on succession in family firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 1087-1122, May.
    2. Ahrens, Jan-Philipp & Uhlaner, Lorraine & Woywode, Michael & Zybura, Jan, 2018. "“Shadow emperor” or “loyal paladin”? – The Janus face of previous owner involvement in family firm successions," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 73-90.
    3. Umans, Ine & Lybaert, Nadine & Steijvers, Tensie & Voordeckers, Wim, 2021. "The influence of transgenerational succession intentions on the succession planning process: The moderating role of high-quality relationships," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(2).
    4. Kandade, Kiran & Samara, Georges & Parada, Maria José & Dawson, Alexandra, 2021. "From family successors to successful business leaders: A qualitative study of how high-quality relationships develop in family businesses," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(2).
    5. Marta Widz & Nadine Kammerlander, 2023. "Entrepreneurial exit intentions in emerging economies: a neoinstitutional perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 615-638, February.
    6. Aapo Länsiluoto & Elina Varamäki & Erkki K. Laitinen & Anmari Viljamaa & Juha Tall, 2015. "Management Control Systems in Small Business Transfers — A Resource-Based View," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(04), pages 449-471, December.
    7. Mussolino, Donata & Calabrò, Andrea, 2014. "Paternalistic leadership in family firms: Types and implications for intergenerational succession," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 197-210.
    8. J. Robert Mitchell & Timothy A. Hart & Sorin Valcea & David M. Townsend, 2009. "Becoming the Boss: Discretion and Postsuccession Success in Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(6), pages 1201-1218, November.
    9. Alexandra Bertschi-Michel & Philipp Sieger & Nadine Kammerlander, 2021. "Succession in family-owned SMEs: the impact of advisors," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1531-1551, April.
    10. Sund, Lars-Göran & Melin, Leif & Haag, Kajsa, 2015. "Intergenerational ownership succession," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 166-177.
    11. Michel, Alexandra & Kammerlander, Nadine, 2015. "Trusted advisors in a family business's succession-planning process—An agency perspective," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 45-57.
    12. Michael Gilding & Sheree Gregory & Barbara Cosson, 2015. "Motives and Outcomes in Family Business Succession Planning," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(2), pages 299-312, March.
    13. Patrizia Fanasch & Bernd Frick, 2021. "Filling Big Shoes: CEO and COO Succession Planning in Family Businesses," Working Papers Dissertations 69, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    14. Dehlen, Tobias & Zellweger, Thomas & Kammerlander, Nadine & Halter, Frank, 2014. "The role of information asymmetry in the choice of entrepreneurial exit routes," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 193-209.
    15. Dawn DeTienne & Melissa Cardon, 2012. "Impact of founder experience on exit intentions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 351-374, May.
    16. Britta Boyd & Isabel C. Botero & Tomasz A. Fediuk, 2014. "Incumbent Decisions about Succession Transitions in Family Firms: A Conceptual Model," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-24, November.
    17. Ahrens, Jan-Philipp & Landmann, Andreas & Woywode, Michael, 2015. "Gender preferences in the CEO successions of family firms: Family characteristics and human capital of the successor," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 86-103.
    18. Simon C. Parker, 2016. "Family Firms and the “Willing Successor†Problem," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(6), pages 1241-1259, November.
    19. Alessandro Minichilli & Mattias Nordqvist & Guido Corbetta & Mario Daniele Amore, 2014. "CEO Succession Mechanisms, Organizational Context, and Performance: A Socio-Emotional Wealth Perspective on Family-Controlled Firms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(7), pages 1153-1179, November.
    20. Lorraine Uhlaner & Petra Gibcus & Niek Timmermans & Marta Berent-Braun, 2009. "The Relationship between Successor, Planning Characteristics, and the Transfer Process on Post-Transfer Profitability in SMEs," Scales Research Reports H200901, EIM Business and Policy Research.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    business transfer; entrepreneurial exit; ageing entrepreneurs; SMEs; business transfer ecosystem;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L53 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Enterprise Policy
    • L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:ngooec:v:66:y:2020:i:1:p:13-22:n:2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.