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Filling Big Shoes: CEO and COO Succession Planning in Family Businesses

Author

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  • Patrizia Fanasch

    (University of Paderborn)

  • Bernd Frick

    (University of Paderborn)

Abstract

The succession of chief executive officer (CEO) and chief operating officer (COO) is inevitable in the life cycle of a company and especially in family businesses. However, the majority of family businesses fail to survive across multiple generations. Although the relevance of effective succession planning to secure a competitive advantage is undisputed, no attempts have yet been made to assess the impact of family-internal changes on firm performance in general and firm reputation in particular with respect to the positions of CEO and COO. In an attempt to close these gaps, this study uses event study methodology to analyze the impact of multiple managerial changes in a sample of 1,397 German wineries in the period 1994 to 2017. The results indicate that family-internal CEO and COO changes have a significantly positive impact on firm reputation. Relay succession turns out to be a particularly well-suited instrument to increase reputation.

Suggested Citation

  • Patrizia Fanasch & Bernd Frick, 2021. "Filling Big Shoes: CEO and COO Succession Planning in Family Businesses," Working Papers Dissertations 69, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:pdn:dispap:69
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    File URL: http://groups.uni-paderborn.de/wp-wiwi/RePEc/pdf/dispap/DP69.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Family firms; Succession planning; Reputation; Wine industry;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • L66 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Food; Beverages; Cosmetics; Tobacco
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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