Founder-CEOs: Succession planning for the success, growth, and legacy of family firms

ABSTRACT

The academic research of family-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has undergone significant growth over the past several decades. Many researchers hold that the succession of founder-CEOs represents one of the most important challenges faced by family firms known as family-owned SMEs. Family firms rarely plan for succession. This is an important oversight committed by most family firms. Succession planning, however, likely remains one of the primary causes for the success, growth, and legacy of family firms. To address this issue, a conceptual model for founder-CEO succession planning in family firms was developed to improve family business commitment, continuity, and tacit knowledge transfer for child successors.

KEYWORDS:

• Succession planning
• family firms
• founder-CEOs