Passing on the baton

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to create a connection between entrepreneurial learning and succession planning in family-owned businesses (FOB), and how they work together to improve a firm’s chances of survival beyond the founder within a Ghanaian context. Design/methodology/approach Through a phenomenological study, this work investigates succession planning processes in FOB, with the objective of developing a succession model suitable for the Ghanaian context. Using a constructivist perspective, six family businesses were studied, interviewing the founder, successor, family members, employees and customers therein. Findings Existing knowledge has been confirmed that succession is not a one-off event, but a process that takes place over time, requiring the buy-in of not just the founder and successor, but also other stakeholders, including the successor’s siblings and spouse (if any), whose support is imperative to the success of the process. This study reviewed and synthesised relevant research data into a conceptual framework. Research limitations/implications This study can potentially inform the basis of a longitudinal study, using the developed framework to confirm its robustness. It can also inform further quantitative research to validate the generalisability of the framework. Practical implications The study contributes to FOB practice, the holistic succession model spanning the founder’s entry into the business, to the post-succession period, and incorporating contextual intervening variables such as polygamy, religion and systems of inheritance, while also contributing to theory by proposing a comprehensive succession process theory to enhance understanding of the process. Originality/value The study contributes increased understanding of the essential elements in the succession process in an African context, what appropriate measures can be implemented for effective succession outcomes, and how key stakeholders of the business can be effectively managed as part of overseeing the succession process for positive organisational outcomes.

Successor selection in family business using theory of planned behaviour and cognitive dimension of social capital theory: evidence from Ghana

“…However, little is known about succession of family owned business in Africa especially in the context of Ghana. Clearly, there are several family owned business in Ghana which have been understudied (Ogola, 2018;Buckman et al, 2019). For the Ghana's economy, the engine for economic growth greatly depends on private sector which are predominately SMEs.…”

“…Standardised output as shown in Figure 3 shows that ATT (β 5 0.300; p < 0.001), PBC (β 5 0.198; p < 0.001), SUB (β 5 0.150; p < 0.05) and SOC (β 5 0.146; p < 0.05) were having significant positive influence on intention; it affirms hypothesis H1, H2, H3 and H5 as stated in Table 8 implies that founder/incumbent will hand over the family firm to internal successor with the interplay of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control and cognitive dimension. This can be attributed to the fact that INT of the founder/incumbent to hand over the family firm to an internal successor is dependent on the views of the family members and other external relations of the founder/incumbent (Buckman et al, 2019) as well as resource availability smoothen succession process (Nuthall and Old, 2016).…”

“…However, little is known about succession of family-owned business in Africa especially in the context of Ghana. Clearly, there are several family-owned business in Ghana which have been understudied (Ogola, 2018;Buckman et al, 2019). Founder/incumbent faces a great deal of successor selection due to Ghanaian kinship structures that determines the next successor as against selecting a qualified successor to hand over the FOB in promoting survivability.…”

Female entrepreneurship in family business: bibliographic analysis

“…It is noteworthy that women entrepreneurs have exceptional skills in managing family businesses with a strong entrepreneurial focus (Buckman et al. , 2020).…”

Sucessão e conflitos: proposições de pesquisa acerca das empresas familiares

“…The final measurement of a succession process can be made by evaluating performance, efficiency and sustainability of the business in the period after the succession (Mokhber et al, 2017). At this stage, the successor has the task of managing any residual conflict that may emerge, also ensuring the maintenance of a good performance of the company (Buckman, Jones, & Buame, 2019). From the observations, we present the fifth proposition: Proposition 5.…”