IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v174y2024ics0148296323008421.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Balancing identity, construction, and rules: Family relationship negotiations during first-generation succession in family businesses

Author

Listed:
  • Sallay, Viola
  • Wieszt, Attila
  • Varga, Szabolcs
  • Martos, Tamás

Abstract

This article identifies how relationship-regulation processes between family members support or hinder the succession process in family businesses during first-generation succession. We analyzed interviews with incumbents and successors from twelve first- generation family firms. We found that intrafamily succession is driven by relational negotiation processes organized around three main domains: negotiating the shared identity of the incumbent and successor, their shared construction regarding succession, and shaping the family rules that frame the process. In the proposed theoretical model, their common construction is represented by the metaphor of a bridge built ‘brick by brick’ as a result of their relationship regulation processes. Relationship negotiations around shared identity served as a basis for their common construction, while negotiations on family rules shaped its framework. Findings suggest a dynamic and relationship-oriented approach to succession wherein the role of planning is not central and relationship negotiations regulate the achievement of the succession.

Suggested Citation

  • Sallay, Viola & Wieszt, Attila & Varga, Szabolcs & Martos, Tamás, 2024. "Balancing identity, construction, and rules: Family relationship negotiations during first-generation succession in family businesses," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:174:y:2024:i:c:s0148296323008421
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114483
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296323008421
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114483?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert G. Hamlin & Rona S. Beattie & Andrea D. Ellinger, 2007. "What do effective managerial leaders really do? Using qualitative methodological pluralism and analytical triangulation to explore everyday 'managerial effectiveness' and 'managerial coaching effectiv," International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(3), pages 255-276.
    2. Daniela Gimenez-Jimenez & Linda F. Edelman & Tommaso Minola & Andrea Calabrò & Lucio Cassia, 2021. "An Intergeneration Solidarity Perspective on Succession Intentions in Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(4), pages 740-766, July.
    3. Cisneros, Luis & Deschamps, Bérangère & Chirita, Gabriel M. & Geindre, Sébastien, 2022. "Successful family firm succession: Transferring external social capital to a shared-leadership team of siblings," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(3).
    4. Hernández-Perlines, Felipe & Covin, Jeffrey G. & Ribeiro-Soriano, Domingo E., 2021. "Entrepreneurial orientation, concern for socioemotional wealth preservation, and family firm performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 197-208.
    5. 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.
    6. Aldrich, Howard E. & Cliff, Jennifer E., 2003. "The pervasive effects of family on entrepreneurship: toward a family embeddedness perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 573-596, September.
    7. Rodolphe Durand & Michael H. Lubatkin & Yan Ling, 2007. "The Missing Lens in Family Firm Governance Theory: A Self-Other Typology of Parental Altruism," Post-Print hal-00699185, HAL.
    8. Tariq H. Malik, 2019. "Founder’s Apprehension in Small Family Business Succession in Thailand: Interpretative View of the Situational Distance," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(4), pages 21582440198, October.
    9. Hedi Yezza & Didier Chabaud & Andrea Calabrò, 2021. "Dynamics of Conflicts in Family Firms: Towards a Non-Linear Approach to the Succession Process," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 29(02), pages 79-107, June.
    10. 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.
    11. Elco Van Burg & Joep Cornelissen & Wouter Stam & Sarah Jack, 2022. "Advancing Qualitative Entrepreneurship Research: Leveraging Methodological Plurality for Achieving Scholarly Impact," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(1), pages 3-20, January.
    12. Chaudhary, Sanjay & Dhir, Amandeep & Ferraris, Alberto & Bertoldi, Bernando, 2021. "Trust and reputation in family businesses: A systematic literature review of past achievements and future promises," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 143-161.
    13. Martínez-Sanchis, Paula & Aragón-Amonarriz, Cristina & Iturrioz-Landart, Cristina, 2020. "How the Pygmalion Effect operates in intra-family succession: Shared expectations in family SMEs," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 914-926.
    14. 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).
    15. Murphy, Linda & Lambrechts, Frank, 2015. "Investigating the actual career decisions of the next generation: The impact of family business involvement," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 33-44.
    16. Dyck, Bruno & Mauws, Michael & Starke, Frederick A. & Mischke, Gary A., 2002. "Passing the baton: The importance of sequence, timing, technique and communication in executive succession," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 143-162, March.
    17. Alexandra Bertschi-Michel & Nadine Kammerlander & Vanessa M. Strike, 2020. "Unearthing and Alleviating Emotions in Family Business Successions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(1), pages 81-108, January.
    18. Trish Reay, 2019. "Family Routines and Next-Generation Engagement in Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(2), pages 244-250, March.
    19. Kudlats, Jerry & McDowell, William C. & Mahto, Raj V., 2019. "Unrelated but together: Trust and intergroup relations in multi-family businesses," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 750-756.
    20. Bloemen-Bekx, Mira & Van Gils, Anita & Lambrechts, Frank & Sharma, Pramodita, 2021. "Nurturing offspring’s affective commitment through informal family governance mechanisms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(2).
    21. Lubatkin, Michael H. & Durand, Rodolphe & Ling, Yan, 2007. "The missing lens in family firm governance theory: A self-other typology of parental altruism," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(10), pages 1022-1029, October.
    22. Hanson, Sheila K. & Hessel, Heather M. & Danes, Sharon M., 2019. "Relational processes in family entrepreneurial culture and resilience across generations," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 1-1.
    23. Jeffery S. McMullen & Benjamin J. Warnick, 2015. "To Nurture or Groom? The Parent–Founder Succession Dilemma," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(6), pages 1379-1412, November.
    24. 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.
    25. 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. 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).
    2. Patrick Raymund James M. Garcia & Pramodita Sharma & Alfredo De Massis & Mike Wright & Louise Scholes, 2019. "Perceived Parental Behaviors and Next-Generation Engagement in Family Firms: A Social Cognitive Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(2), pages 224-243, March.
    3. Simon C. Parker, 2016. "Family Firms and the “Willing Successor†Problem," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(6), pages 1241-1259, November.
    4. Bloemen-Bekx, Mira & Van Gils, Anita & Lambrechts, Frank & Sharma, Pramodita, 2021. "Nurturing offspring’s affective commitment through informal family governance mechanisms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(2).
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. Pramodita Sharma & James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Lloyd P. Steier, 2020. "Family Firm Behavior From a Psychological Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(1), pages 3-19, January.
    9. Burton, Nicholas & Vu, Mai Chi & Cruz, Allan Discua, 2022. "Our social legacy will go on: Understanding outcomes of family SME succession through engaged Buddhism," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 105-118.
    10. Udin Udin & Radyan Dananjoyo & Mohsin Shaikh & Densy Vio Linarta, 2022. "Islamic Work Ethics, Affective Commitment, and Employee’s Performance in Family Business: Testing Their Relationships," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440221, March.
    11. 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.
    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. Porfírio, José António & Felício, José Augusto & Carrilho, Tiago, 2020. "Family business succession: Analysis of the drivers of success based on entrepreneurship theory," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 250-257.
    14. Stewart, Alex, 2020. "Family control, ambivalence, and preferential benefits," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(4).
    15. Paolo Toma & Stefano Montanari, 2017. "Corporate governance effectiveness along the entrepreneurial process of a family firm: the role of private equity," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 21(4), pages 1023-1052, December.
    16. Serhan, Carole & Nader, Rami & Gereige, William, 2023. "Modeling the effect of continuity and change as paradoxical forces in the inter-generational transition process of family businesses," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(4).
    17. 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).
    18. Rajiv Agarwal & Arya Kumar & Keith D'Souza, 2016. "Issues in Career Choices of Successors in Family Businesses: Perspective from Literature Review," Journal of Applied Management and Investments, Department of Business Administration and Corporate Security, International Humanitarian University, vol. 5(1), pages 1-19, February.
    19. Deferne, Marie & Bertschi-Michel, Alexandra & de Groote, Julia, 2023. "The role of trust in family business stakeholder relationships: A systematic literature review," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(1).
    20. Diane Arijs & Anneleen Michiels, 2021. "Mental Health in Family Businesses and Business Families: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-20, March.

    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:eee:jbrese:v:174:y:2024:i:c:s0148296323008421. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    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.