Sucessor Selection and the Role of Religion in Family Businesses

Management transfer is an important issue in family businesses. A significant part of family businesses cannot maintain their existence after the founder leaves management or when generations change. This important problem highlights the next successor and, in this context, emphasises the transfer of management in ensuring the continuity of family businesses. The aim of this section is to determine how Turkish family companies choose a successor in the intergenerational management transfer process, and what the effects of religion are in this choice. This is explored using the holistic multi-case approach, one of the qualitative research designs. It is noted that in religious families, religious values are effective in determining candidates for succession, and criteria such as moral competence, diligence, and spiritual maturity come to the fore. The chapter emphasises that the choice of successor is not only a business decision but also a cultural and spiritual one. Since issues such as family relations, values, culture, and religion impact intergenerational management transfer, the qualitative method is deemed appropriate, as it is not possible to examine the subject quantitatively. In this sense, the chapter brings a cultural and religious perspective to the issue of succession, which is usually analysed in the literature from an economic or managerial perspective.