In the mother’s shadow: exploring power dynamics in family business succession

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to investigate and explain the power dynamics involving the mother (as the founder) and the daughter (as the successor) during the business transmission process. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative research was conducted on a sample of Italian family SMEs. The adopted approach is consistent with the narration paradigm, where the biographical features of the participant are investigated to highlight the culture, value systems and other background features. Findings This research suggests that if the founder is her mother, the daughter faces further challenges. Findings suggest that during business transmission, it is also important to consider the cultural and contextual factors, such as gender biases, both in the family and in the workplace. This paper seems to suggest that power is important in itself, regardless of the gender of those who exercise it. Research limitations/implications Future research should investigate, quantitatively, the same issues considered in this research, to assess the reliability and validity of the evidence discussed here. Practical implications This paper suggests how to overcome dysfunctional dynamics in mother–daughter business transmission. Social implications Family firms are the most widespread type of firm in the world; as a consequence, systematic failures in business transmission represent a prominent socio-economical problem for policymakers and institutions. Originality/value This research shows that in family business, power is not dynamic and does not shift among family members, as suggested by previous research. Even once the mother retires, a stable power hierarchy remains within the family firm.

Gender issues in family business research: A bibliometric scoping review

“…As the number of women-owned family business increases, research on the women-led family business's succession process also emerges. Ramadani et al (2017b) found that children's gender does not matter in the Gender issues in family business research 2019) 's finding suggested that attachment to power has no gender (Ferrari, 2019). Nevertheless, myriad issues remain untapped or unresolved in this research line.…”

Mapping the intellectual and conceptual structure of research on gender issues in the family business: A bibliometric review

“…As the number of the women-owned family business is increasing, researches on the succession process in the women-led family business also emerge. Ramadani, Dana, et al (2017) found that children's gender does not matter in the succession process but the children's interest, whereas Ferrari (2019)'s finding suggested that attachment to power has no gender (Ferrari, 2019).…”

“…Recently, scientists in this line of research seemed to acquire a rising interest in the topic regarding the challenges of daughters in the succession process. Findings of more recent studies continued asserting the massive difficulties that daughters experience during the succession process (Ahrens et al, 2015;Byrne et al, 2019;Ferrari, 2019;Gherardi & Perrotta, 2016;Mussolino, Cicellin, Iacono, Consiglio, & Martinez, 2019;Ramadani, Dana, Sadiku-Dushi, Ratten, & Welsh, 2017). However, the research approach in this line of research has been recently diversified.…”

The family CEO’s effect on succession planning: founder status, difficulties with letting go and gender differences

“…These inconclusive results might be explained by unobserved moderating factors such as the family CEO's gender, as alternate mechanisms work in male-led versus female-led organizations (Elsaid and Ursel, 2011;Zhang and Qu, 2016). Despite the increasing presence and importance of women in family businesses (Nelson and Constantinidis, 2017;Kubí cek and Machek, 2019), the research on this topic is still fragmented and mostly conceptual, especially on women involved in the business as a family CEO (Campopiano et al, 2017;Ferrari, 2019). As female CEOs are likely to provide different solutions to management and broader business problems (Koffi et al, 2014), gender differences can also influence SP in family firms.…”

“…In family business research, it is only recently that gender issues have gained more attention (Ferrari, 2019;Kubí cek and Machek, 2019). As differences between female and male CEOs can vest themselves in how the business is organized, the family CEO's gender may have implications for the business within the context of leadership succession (Kubí cek and Machek, 2019).…”