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Drawing on upper echelons theory, this study examines how the traditionality of family chief executive officers (CEOs) influences the selection of their successors, and how this relationship is moderated by two dimensions of socioemotional wealth. Recognizing the central role of CEOs in determining successors, we show that a family CEO’s cultural values regarding traditionality have a significant positive effect on the probability that a family member is chosen as successor. We find that this relationship is strengthened by the family members’ identification with the firm and weakened by the family members’ sense of dynasty. Our contributions to theory and practice are discussed.

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During family firm succession, parent-incumbents are often caught up in a paradox of both empowering and dominating their child-successors. To understand this recurring phenomenon, we draw from socioemotional wealth literature and a philosophical account of the power-transfer paradox in ancient patriarchal monarchies to hypothesize that parent-incumbents tend to exert generational coercive control when their child-successors are seen as very unwilling and incapable or very willing and capable of taking over patriarchal family organizations. We test our hypotheses in three studies. In Study 1, we coded data from succession cases in Chinese patriarchal monarchies (403 BC to 959 AD) and found support for the predicted non-linear effects of successor-princes’ willingness (63 cases) and capability (80 cases) on their father-kings’ coercive control (persecuting or murdering the princes). In Study 2, based on survey data from parent–child dyads of 157 family firms in Taiwan and mainland China, again, we found U-shaped effects of child-successors’ willingness and capability on parent-incumbents’ coercive control (restraining successors’ power). Moreover, parent-incumbents’ highly narcissistic personality attenuated these U-shaped relationships because they tend to devalue their child-successors’ willingness and capability. In Study 3, we conducted a survey of 103 parent–child dyads in family firms in mainland China and found a U-shaped relationship between capability and coercive control only when incumbents’ roles in the family and at work were highly intertwined.

In this study, the relationship between CEO temporal focus and family business succession planning is examined and the moderating effects of family interactions and environmental uncertainty are assessed. Based on data from 198 CEOs of family businesses and additional data from 15 semi-structured interviews in China, we find that CEO temporal focus (i.e., past, present, or future focus) is positively associated with succession planning. In addition, family interactions strengthen the relationship between CEO past focus and succession planning and weaken the relationship between CEO future focus and succession planning. Moreover, in uncertain environments, past-focused CEOs are more likely to plan for succession than present-focused CEOs. The theoretical contributions and practical implications of the study are also discussed.

Drawing from social exchange theory, this article explores the founder–successor relationship quality as a mediated pathway in examining the effects of founder–successor value congruence on successor’s willingness to take over the business. Based on survey data from 102 founder–successor dyads, polynomial regression analysis shows that when both a founder and a successor have high value congruence in family prosperity, the relationship quality will be enhanced, which leads to higher successor’s willingness. When there is value incongruence between a founder and a successor, the successor’s family prosperity value has a more important impact on the founder–successor relationship and successor’s willingness.