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Disharmony within harmony: contrasting views between incumbents and successors on the selection criterion adopted for family business successions

Disharmony within harmony: contrasting views between incumbents and successors on the selection... The purpose of this paper is to explore the attributes a subsequent successor in family business should possess and to examine differences in expected attributes in the eyes of the incumbent and a successor-to-be.Design/methodology/approachDrawing upon the classic framework of Chrisman et al. (1998), 60 in-depth interviews were conducted with family business predecessors and successors-to-be in Thailand.FindingsThe attributes of competence and personality traits were prominent in this research; while the importance of current involvement with family business, relationship with incumbent, the relationship with family members, along with family standing, appears to be less important than expected in the context of an Asian collectivistic society. This research highlights the divergent gaps in the attributes desired by the incumbents and successors-to-be. 28 significant gaps between incumbents and successors-to-be have been found in 56.67% of the firms in this research. A majority of the gaps have been, surprisingly, found in the attributes of competence, incumbent relationship and family standing.Research limitations/implicationsTo increase its reliability, a study with a greater number of family businesses should be conducted, thereby increasing the amount of empirical data on this topic.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the under explored research area of differences in expected attributes in the eyes of the incumbent and a successor-to-be. They can be indicators for potential intra-family conflicts and unsmoothed transition. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Family Business Management Emerald Publishing

Disharmony within harmony: contrasting views between incumbents and successors on the selection criterion adopted for family business successions

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References (29)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
2043-6238
DOI
10.1108/jfbm-03-2021-0023
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the attributes a subsequent successor in family business should possess and to examine differences in expected attributes in the eyes of the incumbent and a successor-to-be.Design/methodology/approachDrawing upon the classic framework of Chrisman et al. (1998), 60 in-depth interviews were conducted with family business predecessors and successors-to-be in Thailand.FindingsThe attributes of competence and personality traits were prominent in this research; while the importance of current involvement with family business, relationship with incumbent, the relationship with family members, along with family standing, appears to be less important than expected in the context of an Asian collectivistic society. This research highlights the divergent gaps in the attributes desired by the incumbents and successors-to-be. 28 significant gaps between incumbents and successors-to-be have been found in 56.67% of the firms in this research. A majority of the gaps have been, surprisingly, found in the attributes of competence, incumbent relationship and family standing.Research limitations/implicationsTo increase its reliability, a study with a greater number of family businesses should be conducted, thereby increasing the amount of empirical data on this topic.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the under explored research area of differences in expected attributes in the eyes of the incumbent and a successor-to-be. They can be indicators for potential intra-family conflicts and unsmoothed transition.

Journal

Journal of Family Business Management – Emerald Publishing

Published: Dec 1, 2022

Keywords: Family business; Family business succession; Successor selection criterion; Incumbents

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