Probing family business succession through the eyes of the leaders

• Main Authors: Salim, Linda, Mohd Shariff, Mohd Noor, Ahmad Arshad, Darwina, Surya Saputra, Ruswiati
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: HD28 Management. Industrial Management
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/18589/1/FERC%202015%201-6.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/18589/; http://www.gvsu.edu/ferc/
• Institution: Universiti Utara Malaysia

In line with the theme of FERC 2015, this study aims at navigating through the issue of family business sustainability, particularly in overcoming the hurdles associated with transgenerational family business succession. While the opponents of family business have said that family firms would eventually grow up into larger companies run by professionals, separating the management from ownership, there has been evidence showing that keeping management in the family provides competitive advantage that is not easily replicated by nonfamily competitors (Jaskiewicz, Uhlenbruck, Balkin, & Reay, 2013) Proponents of keeping the management within the family simply remind that as a multidisciplinary field, family business study needs to balance the focus of the research in both family and business. (Cicellin, Mussollino, Martinez, & Iacono, 2013; James, Jennings, & Breitkreuz, 2012) Transitioning into professional management would risk losing the competitive advantage that serves family firms well into generations when it can be transferred into future generations. (Royer, Simons, Boyd, & Rafferty, 2008)