Context as a Provider of Key Resources for Succession: A Case Study of Sustainable Family Firms

Abstract

Although succession is the single most important issue in family-owned businesses (FOBs), there is scarce comprehensive and integrative analysis of the context (i.e., the social, organizational, and normative setting) where succession events occur. Research usually focuses on the success or failure of succession processes, instead of the risks faced by FOBs during succession. The succession process takes time and multiple actors are involved. Therefore, succession is influenced by uncertainty and unforeseen events. This study addresses the aforementioned gap in the literature by investigating how context can reduce the risk of failure in succession. Based on organizational change theory and the resource-based view, this study considers family and business circumstances where interactions between actors take place and succession occurs. Since the research goal is deeply embedded in context, this paper presents a comparative case study of three Spanish FOBs that have experienced different kinds of organizational change in relation to management succession. The main conclusion is that risk of succession failure depends not only on detailed process design and planning, but also on a well-developed firm and family context that provides sufficient familiness resources to cope with unexpected events and address conflicts.

Impact of Ambidexterity and Environmental Dynamism on Dynamic Capability Development Trade-Offs

“…Most related studies [8,38] have agreed that the development of capabilities can establish or strengthen an enterprise's competitive advantage in a turbulent environment. According to the knowledge-based view, knowledge, which is abstract, can only be transferred via the active involvement of knowledge disseminators; in the process of learning, capability, far from being improved in the form of non-standardized specific knowledge in any subject, provides an integration mechanism [21,[41][42][43]. Zollo and Winter [5] stated that the organizational capability should be emphasized when the integration of external knowledge and information is discussed.…”

“…Via repeated usage of existing knowledge and resources, managers can detect these within the firm more easily, and understand them more thoroughly, thereby reconfiguring existing knowledge and resources (exploitation), and promoting the capability to develop new products and markets (exploration) [41]. There are several studies dealing with capabilities in the knowledge-based development, and especially in the complementarity of various knowledge [41][42][43]. They reveal the dynamic nature of capabilities in knowledge-based development, and emphasize that the combination of knowledge and capabilities generate competitive advantages [43].…”

Linking Organizational Ambidexterity and Performance: The Drivers of Sustainability in High-Tech Firms

“…To sustain organizational and economic development, many firms have abandoned their original equipment manufacturing (OEM) model and turned to original design or brand manufacturing (ODM or OBM, respectively). The successful transition of the high-tech 2 of 17 industry in Taiwan from an OEM model to an ODM or OBM model is a result of intensive R&D and well-defined innovation, which enable firms to update their production technology and knowledge to sustain their competitive edge [1,2]. For example, High Tech Computer (HTC) stopped serving as a contract manufacturer for major brands, entered markets through a partnership with telecom, and encouraged customers to use services in whose design telecom had participated to increase telecom's profits.…”

Penyagolosa Trails: From Ancestral Roads to Sustainable Ultra-Trail Race, between Spirituality, Nature, and Sports. A Case of Study

“…To carry out this research, we chose the qualitative methodology of the case study, since it can provide an in-depth understanding of a variety of elements, facts, and processes [43][44][45]. Tourism research-based case studies present a series of aspects that validate their utilization as methodological tools, which are the following [46][47][48][49]: (1) They can explain whether an innovation failed or worked.…”