Understanding Generational Succession challenges in German Family Businesses

Understanding Generational Succession challenges in German Family Businesses PDF Author: Alexander Schmithausen
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3656262810
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 19

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Book Description
Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,0, University of Edinburgh (Business School), course: Method of Research, language: English, abstract: Business succession is always a challenging time for any business, but generational change is often a critical factor in the success or demise of family-run businesses. During period of generational change, the company offers both the incumbent and the successor a great challenge. This sensitive issue thus has to be conducted with careful planning because it is one of the most critical phases in the life cycle of a company, with a lot of chances and risks linked to the process. Further successions are also complicated, with half of established family run companies successfully reaching the second generation stage, but only around three or four percent successfully mastering the handover to a third generation. The causes of these succession issues are varied, and the challenges they create will be investigated in this piece. As such, further research is needed in this area, including the specific succession challenges faced in German Family Businesses, and strategies to overcome them. The primary research question is: What are the key generational challenges faced by German Family Businesses, and to what extent do they create risks of failure for these businesses?

Understanding Generational Succession challenges in German Family Businesses

Understanding Generational Succession challenges in German Family Businesses PDF Author: Alexander Schmithausen
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3656262810
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 19

Get Book Here

Book Description
Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,0, University of Edinburgh (Business School), course: Method of Research, language: English, abstract: Business succession is always a challenging time for any business, but generational change is often a critical factor in the success or demise of family-run businesses. During period of generational change, the company offers both the incumbent and the successor a great challenge. This sensitive issue thus has to be conducted with careful planning because it is one of the most critical phases in the life cycle of a company, with a lot of chances and risks linked to the process. Further successions are also complicated, with half of established family run companies successfully reaching the second generation stage, but only around three or four percent successfully mastering the handover to a third generation. The causes of these succession issues are varied, and the challenges they create will be investigated in this piece. As such, further research is needed in this area, including the specific succession challenges faced in German Family Businesses, and strategies to overcome them. The primary research question is: What are the key generational challenges faced by German Family Businesses, and to what extent do they create risks of failure for these businesses?

Understanding Succession Processes in Family Businesses

Understanding Succession Processes in Family Businesses PDF Author: Moritz Fehrer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This thesis highlights the importance of understanding succession processes within family businesses. It examines how and why family members influence the succession process, using case studies of family businesses in the German Mittelstand. These are important questions,yet most previous research on family business succession has focused on the current CEO and the immediate successor, paying little attention to the wider family. The findings of this study show the diverse perspectives of family members, highlighting the maternal role in the succession process. This study opens up a new perspective about how much family needs and desires influence the succession process in family businesses, and vice versa. The cases reveal that strategic decision making within family businesses does not take place at the office but at home in private, and that family members, regardless of their formal status with the business, have a certain influence. The thesis adds value to our empirical and practical knowledge of family businesses and their dynamics. It clearly demonstrates that family businesses do not follow strict strategies but are flexible and fast in adapting to new circumstances and challenges. Previous research has largely neglected the role of wider internal and external stakeholders during the succession process, and has also failed to address the important question of successor motivations. To date, studies have focused solely on financial motivators or the absence of adequate alternatives as the main reasons why the younger generation engages in the family business. The results of this thesis provide a more nuanced understanding of successor commitment and motivations for taking on the emotional challenge of managing the family firm. To further enhance our understanding of how and why family members influence the succession process in the family business, this thesis draws on the Strategy as Practice approach. This perspective captures a more accurate picture of real-life succession processes by taking into account the interests and behaviour of directly and indirectly involved family members. In contrast to other approaches, the Strategy as Practice approach captures real-life decision making in everyday business and was chosen to theoretically underpin and guide the empirical work of this thesis, which consists of five case studies conducted in the German Mittelstand in the period from 2011 to 2014. Key words: Family business, succession, transition, incumbent, predecessor, holistic family approach, nepotism, emotional hazard, legitimation, Strategy as Practice.

Doing Succession in Europe

Doing Succession in Europe PDF Author: Isabell Stamm
Publisher: Budrich Unipress Limited
ISBN: 9783940755889
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 387

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Book Description
Family enterprises make up the majority of all businesses across Western Europe. Nonetheless, they are seen as an endangered species. Succession is especially critical for their survival. The succession process is shaped by the dynamics of generational relations in the family. Different institutional contexts between countries create diverse conditions for the negotiation between the generations. Doing Succession in Europe examines whether and how succession processes in European family businesses vary. Scholars of the family, capitalism, the welfare state, and law discuss comparative findings and ideas, while business and legal experts highlight the concrete practices. [A few contributions are in German language text with English abstracts.]

Why 9 of 10 Family Businesses Fail at Succession: Learn what the 10 % Make Right. Best Practices from the UK and Germany

Why 9 of 10 Family Businesses Fail at Succession: Learn what the 10 % Make Right. Best Practices from the UK and Germany PDF Author: Daniel Scheffold
Publisher: Anchor Academic Publishing (aap_verlag)
ISBN: 3954892545
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 82

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Book Description
The harsh reality: 9 out of 10 of family businesses will never make it to the third generation. This book investigates which factors are critical for the success of a succession. The study of three family businesses in the third generation from Germany and the UK lead to four best practices. From the results, a new model for succession in family businesses was developed. The qualitative study is one of the first that investigates the performance of successions with an international perspective. This book is recommended for family business researchers, family business owners, advisors and students interested in family business studies.

Critical success factors and best practices for business succession.

Critical success factors and best practices for business succession. PDF Author: Daniel Scheffold
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3656606536
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 74

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Book Description
Master's Thesis from the year 2013 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,3, University of Applied Sciences Stuttgart (Fakultät für Wirtschaft), course: General Management/ International Business Management, language: English, abstract: Purpose: Knowledge of the factors that influence success in the succession of family businesses is limited. Despite recent studies, theory cannot explain why only 10 % of all family businesses make it to the third generation. The aim of this dissertation is to identify critical success factors for succession in family businesses. Methodology: A qualitative multiple-case study design with third-generation family businesses, two from Germany and one from the UK was employed. A cross-case analysis was carried out to identify critical success factors and then complemented by a single-case analysis. Findings: Nine of the ten tested hypotheses were confirmed. These were successor development, professionalization, knowledge transfer, capital structure, corporate governance, family harmony, stepping aside, succession planning and long-term orientation. The hypothesis about dividend policy was not confirmed. No significant differences were found to be based on national influence. Practical Implications: From the results, a new model for family business succession is developed which leads to four best practice recommendations. These are the implementation of shared leadership, linking ownership to management; ensure communication in the family to create family harmony and the use of outside consultants. Limitations: Due to the case study design, this research does not provide statistical generalizable findings. Originality/ Value: This study increases the knowledge about critical success factors of succession in family businesses. The use of cases from two countries and three different industries increases the significance. The newly developed model for family business succession proposes a new view on the succession process that should be tested by future studies.

Succeeding Generations

Succeeding Generations PDF Author: Ivan Lansberg
Publisher: Harvard Business Press
ISBN: 0875847420
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 396

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Book Description
Finding the right successor to a well-loved founder or president is often the most difficult task an organization faces-and the challenge is even greater for family-run businesses. From mom-and-pop grocery stores to vast multinationals, family-owned companies dominate the worldwide business landscape, yet surprisingly few are successfully passed down from one generation to the next, and fewer still reach the third generation intact. Author Ivan Lansberg, an organizational psychologist who grew up in a family business, explores the reasons behind this high failure rate, and reveals the conditions that allow family businesses to endure through the generations. Family enterprises are highly personal, says Lansberg, and many elaborate succession plans are thwarted because deeper psychological factors are overlooked. Lansberg stresses the need for families to share a common "dream" for their company, much like a business has a unified mission. Succeeding Generations helps us to understand all aspects-the practical and the emotional-of the succession process, as Lansberg offers advice on how to mentor successors, how to set up a systematic selection process, and how to make the best use of the board of directors during times of transition. He also provides the first clear assessment of the different options, from direct successions between a parent and a single appointed heir to more complex partnerships between siblings and cousins. With a wealth of examples from companies in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America, Succeeding Generations provides a thoughtful and comprehensive look at the sensitive dynamics of leadership succession in family businesses. Planning for continuity is a life-long process for families in business, and Succeeding Generations is the first book to provide in-depth answers to the questions that arise at every stage in the evolution of the family firm.

Varieties of Family Business

Varieties of Family Business PDF Author: Hartmut Berghoff
Publisher: Campus Verlag
ISBN: 359344531X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Familienunternehmen sind in Deutschland und in den USA zentrale Bausteine der jeweiligen Volkswirtschaft. Und doch gibt es signifikante Unterschiede in der Unternehmens- und Familienkultur sowie der institutionellen Umwelt. So wird Deutschland in den USA um seine leistungsstarken Familienunternehmen, vor allem die Hidden Champions, beneidet. Zudem bestehen deutsche Familienunternehmen im Durchschnitt deutlich länger. Wie kam es zu diesen Divergenzen? Die von der Stiftung Familienunternehmen herausgegebene historische Langzeitbetrachtung analysiert die Ursachen und Auswirkungen der Unternehmenslandschaften in beiden Ländern von der Industrialisierung im 19. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart. For an English description see: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/V/bo86151146.html

Harvard Business Review Family Business Handbook

Harvard Business Review Family Business Handbook PDF Author: Josh Baron
Publisher: Harvard Business Press
ISBN: 1633699064
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 231

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Book Description
Navigate the complex decisions and critical relationships necessary to create and sustain a healthy family business—and business family. Though "family business" may sound like it refers only to mom-and-pop shops, businesses owned by families are among the most significant and numerous in the world. But surprisingly few resources exist to help navigate the unique challenges you face when you share the executive suite, financial statements, and holidays. How do you make the right decisions, critical to the long-term survival of any business, with the added challenge of having to do so within the context of a family? The HBR Family Business Handbook brings you sophisticated guidance and practical advice from family business experts Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer. Drawing on their decades-long experience working closely with a wide range of family businesses of all sizes around the world, the authors present proven methods and approaches for communicating effectively, managing conflict, building the right governance structures, and more. In the HBR Family Business Handbook you'll find: A new perspective on what makes family businesses succeed and fail A framework to help you make good decisions together Step-by-step guidance on managing change within your business family Key questions about wealth, unique to family businesses, that you can't afford to ignore Assessments to help you determine where you are—and where you want to go Stories of real companies, from Marchesi Antinori to Radio Flyer Chapter summaries you can use to reinforce what you've learned Keep this comprehensive guide with you to help you build, grow, and position your family business to thrive across generations. HBR Handbooks provide ambitious professionals with the frameworks, advice, and tools they need to excel in their careers. With step-by-step guidance, time-honed best practices, and real-life stories, each comprehensive volume helps you to stand out from the pack—whatever your role.

The Two Sides of the Business Family

The Two Sides of the Business Family PDF Author: Arist von Schlippe
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030602001
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
This book focuses on a central success factor for family businesses: maintaining the decision-making ability over generations while not jeopardizing the business due to family conflict, inefficient governance structures, or lack of identification. The authors identify that this is not as easy as the endeavor to bring two social systems together with contradicting logic (family and business) leads to many dangerous pitfalls. This book presents outcomes of a unique research project in which family managers of eleven of the oldest and largest German family businesses, at least the fourth generation, met for more than three years on a regular basis and presented the essence of their family governance structures to each other and to the authors. It was a joint “learning journey” that admits identifying twelve core questions that these families had been answering to keep up the relationship between family and business successfully over generations. Obviously, there is no “right” answer to these questions. The key to success is rather engaging the families in a process to find out their own answers and make them aware of the “two sides”: being a family is different from being a business family.

Succession in Family Businesses

Succession in Family Businesses PDF Author: Katharina Heinrichs
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 3844103198
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 181

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Book Description
Succession is inevitable and vital for the longevity of family businesses. But what do we know about succession in family businesses and where do we go from here? How does the interaction of family and business impact on succession? And which roles play identity and family member identification during the succession process? This book expands our knowledge on succession and prepares the grounds for a holistic view of succession in family businesses. Its first contribution is a systematic, replicable, and scientific review and consolidation of the theoretical and empirical literature on succession of the last 18 years into a transparent, logical, and in-depth framework. Furthermore, by analyzing the business and the family dimension in the context of succession, this book aims at detecting different succession patterns in family businesses and analyzes which factors influence the nature of successful succession processes. Besides its scientific contribution, this book helps family businesses and business families to better understand mechanisms happening during succession and enables them to identify and to understand their individual succession pattern. The findings of this book are based on a qualitative study conducted in the German Wine Industry. The sample consists of 21 family-owned and -managed German wineries, being, on average, in their 11th generation of existence. 37 semi-structured interviews held with both generations of one family if possible, translated into 695 pages of raw data. This data was coded and analyzed following a grounded theory approach.