Gender-related factors in family business succession: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Succession is one of the most discussed topics in family business research. However, despite the changing professional and family roles of women and the growing number of female CEOs worldwide, published works in the body of literature have relatively little to say on the role of gender in succession. The article reviews the recent development in the literature related to women in intergenerational succession in family businesses with the aim of systematizing gender-related factors affecting intra-family succession, and also proposes directions for future research. Based on a sample of 35 studies published between 2005 and 2017, this paper categorizes the gender-related factors found in the literature into three categories: environment and context, people, and processes. Subsequently, the paper summarizes the current state-of-the-art in light of these three categories. Since the research on the role of gender in succession is fragmented and lacks an overall direction, we present multiple directions for future research. The present review contributes to the body of literature on the development of family business by comprehensively systematizing existing gender-related factors affecting succession.

Negotiating the female successor–leader role within family business succession in China

“…Within the family business literature, succession is posited as a dynamic process, which requires the transfer of knowledge, networks and resources across generations (Cabrera-Suárez and Martín-Santana, 2012). Recent reviews (Kubíček and Machek, 2019;Nelson and Constantinidis, 2017;Vera and Dean, 2005;Wang, 2010) have identified a number of genderrelated factors in family business succession. First, in patriarchal societies, primogeniture has long been a tradition, whereby incumbents select their successors based on gender and birth order (Kubíček and Machek, 2019).…”

Disentangling succession and entrepreneurship gender gaps: gender norms, culture, and family

“…To explain gender effects, studies typically conclude that gender is primarily socially constructed rather than biologically determined, and thus heavily influenced by cultural factors and differences within and across societies (Elam and Terjesen 2010;Kubíček and Machek 2019;Overbeke et al 2013). Hence, gender identity (whether one describes and perceives oneself as a man, woman, or other; Diamond 2002) and gender norms (i.e.…”

“…In our study, we first consider the main effect of gender identity on occupational choice among young people. In spite of increased female participation in the labour market, family business succession in particular remains a male-dominated domain (Kubíček and Machek 2019), with fathers often preferring sons over daughters (Ahl 2006;Campopiano et al 2017;Rothausen 2009;Schröder et al 2011) and giving daughters more subordinate, less powerful, and less visible roles (Karataş-Özkan et al 2011). In many families, the primogeniture rule, i.e.…”

Ela Ou Ele? Reflexões Sobre as Questões De Gênero Em Empresas Familiares

“…Ainda que avanços são percebidos em relação a participação de mulheres em cargos de gestão, elas correspondem a minoria no que diz respeito à liderança empresarial em todo o mundo (Catalyst, 2019). Em relação ao espaço feminino nas empresas familiares, nota-se que a sucessão intergeracional é um dos tópicos mais discutidos em investigações sobre esses empreendimentos, no entanto, poucas pesquisas têm se dedicado ao estudo das mulheres e seu papel na sucessão de organizações familiares (Kubíček & Machek, 2019).…”