IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/zbw/jumsac/300586.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unforeseen succession: Identity change amongst lateral entrants in family firms

Author

Listed:
  • Morrow, Pia Doris

Abstract

Due to the increasing globalization of today's world, descendants of family firms are often drawn to the unlimited opportunities outside their premises and no longer see their future workplace or the core of their identity within the family organization. However, this can lead to a rude awakening if so-called unforeseen events, which can range from death or illness of a family member to intra-family conflicts, changes in the business model and even financial problems, arise. This thesis examines the effects of such unexpected successions on the identity of lateral entrants in family firms and presents a roadmap with practical and theoretical action implications for unplanned successors during the pre-, initial, and post-succession phase. The analysis of qualitative data from interviews with lateral entrants and experts revealed overlaps in identity constructs and experiences. Before the occurrence of an unforeseen event, lateral entrants already displayed entrepreneurial traits and a willingness to take risks but lacked connection to the family firm and interest in succession. During the initial succession phase, they prioritized rationality, efficient teams, and immediate action over emotional processing. After an average of three years, lateral entrants became confident family entrepreneurs. Furthermore, unforeseen successors showed great interest in arranging their own succession at an early stage in order to pass on what they had learned and counteract crisis situations preventively. In general, the interviewed candidates demonstrated a continuous process of developing their own successor identity, which did not develop disruptively but rather steadily and was characterized by specific milestones shown in the successor roadmap of this thesis.

Suggested Citation

  • Morrow, Pia Doris, 2024. "Unforeseen succession: Identity change amongst lateral entrants in family firms," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 9(2), pages 1464-1484.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:jumsac:300586
    DOI: 10.5282/jums/v9i2pp1464-1484
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/300586/1/189416556X.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.5282/jums/v9i2pp1464-1484?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. Wolter, Hans-Jürgen & Sauer, Irakli, 2017. "Die Bedeutung der eigentümer- und familiengeführten Unternehmen in Deutschland," IfM-Materialien 253, Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn.
    2. Jess H. Chua & James J. Chrisman & Pramodita Sharma, 1999. "Defining the Family Business by Behavior," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 23(4), pages 19-39, July.
    3. Wielsma, Albertha J. & Brunninge, Olof, 2019. "“Who am I? Who are we?” Understanding the impact of family business identity on the development of individual and family identity in business families," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 38-48.
    4. Pramodita Sharma & P. Gregory Irving, 2005. "Four Bases of Family Business Successor Commitment: Antecedents and Consequences," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(1), pages 13-33, January.
    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. Zellweger, Thomas & Sieger, Philipp & Halter, Frank, 2011. "Should I stay or should I go? Career choice intentions of students with family business background," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 521-536, September.
    2. Wouter Broekaert & Petra Andries & Koenraad Debackere, 2016. "Innovation processes in family firms: the relevance of organizational flexibility," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 771-785, October.
    3. Simon C. Parker, 2016. "Family Firms and the “Willing Successor†Problem," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(6), pages 1241-1259, November.
    4. Unai Arzubiaga & Manel Plana-Farran & Agnès Ros-Morente & Albert Joana & Sílvia Solé, 2021. "Mindfulness and Next-Generation Members of Family Firms: A Source for Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-13, May.
    5. Memili, Esra & Chrisman, James J. & Chua, Jess H. & Chang, Erick P.C. & Kellermanns, Franz W., 2011. "The determinants of family firms' subcontracting: A transaction cost perspective," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 26-33, March.
    6. Zahra, Shaker A. & Neubaum, Donald O. & Larraneta, Barbara, 2007. "Knowledge sharing and technological capabilities: The moderating role of family involvement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(10), pages 1070-1079, October.
    7. Mahto, Raj & McDowell, William C. & Davis, Peter, 2020. "Influence and values: The connection between participation and commitment in family firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 354-362.
    8. Dan Wang & Zhongyuan Zhang, 2022. "Disassembling the influences of perceived family relational conflict on business family offspring’s intrapreneurial intentions," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 153-189, March.
    9. Mahto, Raj V. & Vora, Gautam & McDowell, William C. & Khanin, Dmitry, 2020. "Family member commitment, the opportunity costs of staying, and turnover intentions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 9-19.
    10. 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.
    11. Thomas M. Zellweger & James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Lloyd P. Steier, 2019. "Social Structures, Social Relationships, and Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(2), pages 207-223, March.
    12. Aldrich, Howard E. & Brumana, Mara & Campopiano, Giovanna & Minola, Tommaso, 2021. "Embedded but not asleep: Entrepreneurship and family business research in the 21st century," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(1).
    13. Raj Mahto & Peter Davis & Dmitry Khanin, 2014. "Continuation Commitment: Family’s Commitment to Continue the Family Business," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 278-289, June.
    14. Unai Arzubiaga & Amaia Maseda & Txomin Iturralde, 2019. "Exploratory and exploitative innovation in family businesses: the moderating role of the family firm image and family involvement in top management," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-31, February.
    15. Khanin, Dmitry, 2013. "How to reduce turnover intentions in the family business: Managing centripetal and centrifugal forces," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 63-73.
    16. Silvana Signori & Yves Fassin, 2023. "Family Members’ Salience in Family Business: An Identity-Based Stakeholder Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(1), pages 191-211, February.
    17. Schell, Sabrina & de Groote, Julia K. & Moog, Petra & Hack, Andreas, 2020. "Successor selection in family business—A signaling game," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(3).
    18. Alexandra Dawson & Pramodita Sharma & P. Gregory Irving & Joel Marcus & Francesco Chirico, 2015. "Predictors of Later–Generation Family Members’ Commitment to Family Enterprises," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(3), pages 545-569, May.
    19. Cater, John James & Kidwell, Roland E., 2014. "Function, governance, and trust in successor leadership groups in family firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 217-228.
    20. Natalia Martin-Cruz & Ismael Barros Contreras & Juan Hernangómez Barahona & Héctor Pérez Fernández, 2020. "Parents’ Learning Mechanisms for Family Firm Succession: An Empirical Analysis in Spain through the Lens of the Dynamic Capabilities Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-17, October.

    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:zbw:jumsac:300586. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://jums.academy/en/ .

    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.