The Impact of Intergenerational Succession Intention on Family Firm’s Innovation Strategy: Evidence from China

Abstract

In the development and growth of family businesses, succession is an unsolvable problem, which is also a popular focus of academic research. For a family firm, succession may be a strategic decision but also a long-term and intricate “footrace.” It will have a significant impact on the long-term viability of a family firm if it is not handled appropriately. This study mainly explores the influences of family business owners’ intergenerational succession intention on their family firms’ innovation strategy in China. In addition, this study further examines the moderating role of the institutional environment in the above relationship. Therefore, the data in this article comes from a survey of 271 family businesses in eight different regions of China. Also, this paper can aid the smooth transition of intergenerational transmission of small and medium-sized family businesses in addition to the untroubled development of technological innovation activities. Specifically, the institutional environment plays a negative moderating role in the relationship between family succession, radical succession, technological innovation, and a positive regulating role in the relationship between single equity succession and technological innovation.

Development of a new concept and definition of inheritance risk management in family businesses toward sustainability

“…The interactions between family, business, and wealth create unique challenges, highlighting the need for a new approach to managing inheritance risks. This stems from the principles of risk management and the concept of inherent risk (Bernhard et al, 2020;Song et al, 2022;Baltazar et al, 2023).…”

Exploring Family Businesses Succession in Indonesia: The Knowledge Management Lenses

“…The transfer of knowledge and leadership between generations within a family business organization is an exact process that is not easily replicable (Harms, 2014;Zybura et al, 2021a) The previous research found that 30% of family businesses successfully conducted succession between the first and second generations (Wang et al, 2019). However, the success of next-generation succession is more difficult to achieve, thus requiring established planning and strategies (Plana-Farran et al, 2022;Silva et al, 2021;Song et al, 2022). Thus, one of the gaps this research aims to fill is formulating a strategy for the success of a family business succession, considering the previously identified challenges.…”