Cultural Specificities of Succession’ Failure and Success in the Context of Unlisted Moroccan Family-Owned Businesses

Abstract

The purpose of this research aims to study the relationship between the cultural specificities of the Moroccan context and the success or failure of succession strategies (in terms of planning and process) in the case of Moroccan unlisted family businesses. Our study covered a sample of 20 unlisted Moroccan family businesses, 8 of which are SMEs, 6 are large firms, and 6 are VSEs, through a qualitative research based on semi-structured interviews with the managers of family businesses. Our results explain the influence of Moroccan cultural specificities on the success or failure of the transfer of family businesses. Indeed, these influences essentially manifest themselves in three antecedents: the succession planning that already reflects the intention to pass on the family business to the next generations, either by having a well-prepared plan, or an absence of a succession plan that leaves things to chance; the succession process that is influenced in part by specificities of Moroccan culture by granting privilege to the eldest male in the succession, and in another part this process becomes more rational by giving credit to successors competent to take over the family business in the case of large family businesses; and cultural constraints that are manifested mainly by the taboos surrounding the death of the predecessor and religious principles that similarly explain the different configurations of success or failure of the succession strategy of the family business. An extension of this work could be a multi-factor analysis in future researches.

Succession as a Risk Process in the Survival of a Family Business—Case of Slovakia

“…Our results correspond to the statements of Filser et al (2013) and Gagnè et al (2011). Allioui et al (2021) argued that it is the timely planning of a generational change that can help to ensure a smooth transition of ownership. The reason for the reluctance of the owner to leave the business was considered to be that the owners could not disengage from the family business because they did not have time to perform hobbies in addition to their daily work.…”

“…We found that the owners of Slovak family businesses focused on topics that also correspond to the world literature in the field of succession (Duh 2014;Zellweger et al 2019;B ąkiewicz 2020;Allioui et al 2021;Kandade et al 2021). What makes our research exceptional is that we focused the main part on the importance of individual expressions in the conditions of Slovak family businesses.…”

“…B ąkiewicz supported his claim with research, where he found that in Poland, as a post-communist country, only 14% of family businesses have a succession plan, while in Indonesia, 92% have a plan. Allioui et al (2021) again argued that the main resistance to succession planning is linked to psychological characteristics, which affect the owner's willingness to resign from the company's management. The term time was also associated with succession.…”