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This study analyses family business continuity from founder generation to the 2nd generation in terms of succession in the context of evolutionary economics. Two literature bases; family business succession and evolutionary thinking in organisational and economic change, are reviewed and combined to provide insights to understand the nature of family business succession. Operation of the key evolutionary forces — variation, selection, retention and struggle — in family business succession are illustrated. Regarding variation, there is a concern for understanding the importance of having enough diversity within the family firm, since this diversity of routines and competences comprises the pool of variation from which to select when the environment changes. With regards to selection, there is a concern for understanding the risk of selection bias easily rooted in the family firm culture: are some variations favoured in the selection of operating, investment and search routines because of family relations, emotions and values, including decisions on who will succeed and who will own the firm in the future. Elaboration and investigation of these concepts may help to identify special characteristics of the "family firm species" that are either beneficial or risky for the survival in the evolutionary struggle.

The decision-making process concerning succession issues for family businesses is crucial as it affects long term performance and sustainability. However, while succession issues in family business has been extensively studied, the decision-making process for women-owned family businesses is sparse, particularly in transition economies. This is despite the growth of women-owned businesses worldwide. This study explores the succession decision-making process in women-owned small family businesses in Kosovo using a qualitative approach. The findings suggest that group decision making is important in family businesses and plays a role in determining how gender influences succession planning. Managerial and policy implications are discussed.

Each year thousands of family business, mainly SMEs, fail in their succession process. Previous research holds that succession planning and management professionalization are the key elements for family business facing succession but tends to give little attention to the role of human resource management (HRM). This paper sheds light on the part that HRM can play to preserve family business at the risky stage of succession. A study was conducted with multiple qualitative case studies. The analysis was done at both intra-site and inter-site levels and based on the matrix analysis and display approach (Miles and Huberman, 2003). Our findings show that HRM can help to diminish the risk of family business succession by reducing the dependence to family management through personnel empowerment and improvement of organizational environment. However, potential positive HRM outcomes for succession are only possible given the condition of prior HRM professionalization and family management support.

While the UN’s proclaimed decade of family farming (2019-2029) unfolds, management research has still not sufficiently explored the enterprising family in agriculture. Our article aims at exploring the literature on agricultural family businesses in the field of management sciences, towards suggesting future research directions. We present an overview of the definitional efforts and specificities of these family businesses, followed by a systematic literature review over the past decade. Our analysis identifies three clusters of dimensions that underpin the existing knowledge: entrepreneurial behavior, succession process, and psychological dynamics, in relation with three major outcomes that are growth, resilience, and continuity. Building on the existing research limitations and the current research trends, we craft a comprehensive agenda for scholars to advance our understanding of enterprising families in agriculture.

Drawing on insights from the family business succession and mentoring literature, we examined the preparation process for daughters as successors in family firms in the United States. In-depth interviews were conducted with eighteen daughters and their parent mentors (nine mothers and nine fathers) using a qualitative case study approach. We identified a reciprocal social exchange process between parent mentors who provided resources and daughters who acquired the knowledge to become successors in their family firms. Significant elements in the preparation process included: positive childhood experiences, choosing and earning a relevant college degree, the daughter’s autonomous decision to enter the family firm, guided on-the-job training, and counsel and advice to overcome the crucial issues of male gender bias and the burden of childcare responsibility. The significance is highlighted of differences that exist between mothers and fathers as mentors regarding understanding the daughters’ position in the firm and communication.

The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into how the successors of family-owned manufacturing SMEs view and manage innovativeness. Research into company takeovers mainly focuses on large companies and little is known about innovativeness in research on family-owned businesses, often SMEs. This paper presents findings from ten company successions, five of which describe family successions and five external ones. The paper points to that there is little difference in how various types of successor view and manage innovativeness. A successor is chosen with care and this also influences the view and management of innovativeness; other criteria seem to apply in the succession and radical changes can only be introduced if a number of contextual factors are managed properly. The paper also indicates that while financial constraints may limit innovations, a strong financial situation is not an antecedent for innovativeness.

The system of personalized Arab presidential power based on a strong security state had its origins in the assertion of national sovereignty in the dangerous post-independence world of the 1950s and 1960s. and then becoming more monarchical in character over time, including the attempt to perpetuate itself by passing power on to the ruler's son. Key to this development was the appearance around each ruler of a small group of crony-capitalists who used their privileged access to secure state monopolies which they then schemed to protect after the ruler's death. Both developments, that of family dictatorships, as well as their associated corruption and cronyism, can then be used to account in large measure with the uprisings associated with the Arab 'Spring'.