Successor Attributes in Indian and Canadian Family Firms: A Comparative Study

Abstract

This study replicates the Chrisman, Chua, Sharma 1998 Canadian study in the Indian context. Using data from 43 Indian family firms, this study compares the successor attributes that Indian and Canadian family business owners consider most important. Despite significant differences in norms and culture prevalent in these two countries, results of this comparative study indicate that both sets of family firm owners rate integrity and commitment to the business as the two most important attributes of a successor. However, compared to Canadian family firm owners, Indian owners rate blood and family relationships higher. Canadian respondents, on the other hand, rate interpersonal skills, past performance, and experience higher.

Educating Succeeding Generation Entrepreneurs in Family Businesses – The Case of Slovenia

“…According to research findings, members of the next family generation have to develop some critical characteristics [7,47,58], such as business and industry knowledge, decision-making abilities, networks and social capital, passion, innovative spirit, and legitimacy and credibility from both family and non-family stakeholders. For this reason, many research studies have dealt with the nurturing, preparation, and development of successor(s) [24,41,50] as an important predictor of successful transition.…”

“…The realization of effective succession depends to a great extent on how well a succeeding generation is prepared to take over a leadership and entrepreneurial role [7,47,58]. For this reason many research studies have dealt with the nurturing, preparation, and development of successor(s) [24,41,50] as an important predictor of successful succession.…”

Succession Planning in Black-Owned Family Businesses: A South African Perspective

“…Sharma and Rao (2000) contend that one of the important aspects in the succession process is knowledge transfer, which may help develop and maintain competitive advantage for the family business. Sharma and Rao (2000) further argue that the most valuable resources and competences for family-owned businesses are those that are based on information and tacit knowledge and are commonly associated with the business incumbent. Ten of the 13 incumbents interviewed stressed that they found it difficult to groom a successor who did not trust their competencies.…”

“…The findings reveal that the mother fulfilled an important role in ensuring the successors stayed focused during their development and pushed them to report for work like any other employee of the business. Sharma and Rao (2000) recount that the incumbent's ability to create and advance a business environment in which the successor feels free to make decisions and mistakes is essential to the successor's overall development. From the data collected it is clear that the incumbents fully grasped this idea and supported it, because if the family does not agree with the identified potential successor, the grooming process will not go smoothly and might even lead to the successor not being treated fairly when she or he has made bad business decisions.…”

Будущее Семейного Бизнеса В России: Передача Бизнеса Преемникам

“…Последующие эмпирические исследования, проводившиеся как в западных и восточных культурах, выявили идентичные критерии выбора преемников с точки зрения руководителей фирмы (Chrisman, Chua, Sharma, 1998;Sharma, Rao, 2000). Описанные критерии считаются важными и универсальными в их использовании к различным ситуациям и культурам.…”