More Related Content More from John Johari (20) Activities involved in succesion process among asian and african owned business1. © Copyrighted Material
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http://www.gowerpublishing.com/isbn/9780566092206
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Father–Daughter
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Succession in
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Family Business
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A Cross-Cultural Perspective
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Edited by
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Daphne Halkias,
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Paul W. Thurman,
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Celina Smith and
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Robert S. Nason
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2. © Copyrighted Material
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Preface:
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Where Culture, Family and Business Meet:
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Developing Cross-National Research on
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the Father–Daughter Succession Process
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in Family Firms
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Daphne Halkias
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Why Focus on Culture in the Succession Process of Family Business?
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The family firm is an increasingly vital player in the global economy. One of the events
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that may disrupt the smooth evolution of a family business is a generation transition and
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succession. An important issue that is evolving in the family business literature is the
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increasing involvement of women in leadership/management roles in businesses and,
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more specifically, the family firm. In the developing economies of Asia and Africa as well
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as the developed ones in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand there is
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sparse case study research in the extant literature on cross-cultural gender issues in the
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family firm ownership and succession (Halkias et al., 2008; 2010).
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If entrepreneurship can be considered as an event induced by socio-cultural factors
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(Shapero and Sokol, 1982), the cultural variable gains greater significance when applied
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to the quality of the relationship between family members involved in the succession
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process and specifically, in this book, for the case of father to daughter. National culture
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generates behavioral changes through family, training, education, traditions, lifestyles,
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politics, religion and degrees of masculinity–femininity, individualism–collectivism
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(Hofstede, 1997; Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 2003). Within family firms, the
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cultural context can affect behaviors and, in the same way, management styles, be
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they an individual’s, the family’s or the firm’s (Barbot, 2004). In line with this, other
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recent research has addressed the issue of national cultural attitudes influencing the
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entrepreneurial behavior and outcomes of an ethnic or regional population (Ibid.).
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With respect to the lack of research integrating culture on one hand and the
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specificity of females taking over family businesses, the research presented in this book
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by an eminent group of scholars aims at exploring the influence of culture—ethnic,
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regional, religious—on the process of father–daughter succession in family firms. We were
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particularly interested in exploring the cultural variables influencing father–daughter
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succession in family businesses across 14 cultural settings never before considered in the
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extant literature.
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3. 4 Father–Daughter Succession in Family Business
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Entrepreneurship is truly a phenomenon which is above all cultural. With this in mind, the
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successful transmission of a firm involves respecting the national culture in which it is found.
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(Barbot et al., 2004:4)
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The research model used as a foundation for developing a methodology for these case
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studies was presented in a landmark cross-national study conducted by Barbot et al.,
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(2004) exploring the influence of culture among father–daughter succession in France
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and Tunisia. This study identified factors which influence the succession process
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according to two different cultural contexts. Its hypotheses highlighted that beyond
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sexual diversity (female/male), the stages of the succession process could change within
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the same gender of successors (females) due to cultural factors. Within the succession
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frame of the daughter taking over, differences can be stated and explained through
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the predominance of national culture in family and managerial relationships. On the
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basis of these observations and adopting a comparative approach, Barbot et al. (2004)
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investigated differences and/or similarities between how father to daughter successions
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occur in Tunisian and French family businesses.
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In their conclusions, Barbot et al. (2004) stated that with respect to entrepreneurship
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in general and family business succession in particular, their investigation illuminated
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that researchers must take into account the cultural context.
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The recognition of the importance of tradition leads us, by no means, to consider societies as
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motionless, mere reflections of folkloric caricatures. Finally, we may conclude that best practice
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research cannot be undertaken as an end to itself. Indeed, instead of imitating other countries,
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it is necessary to identify the value of one’s own traditions. Each country is characterized by
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“fundamental traits which pass the test of time.”
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(D’Iribarne, 1989)
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A Defining Model to Research the Cultural Variable in Family
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Business Succession
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In order to address the question of the specificity of father–daughter transfer, while
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considering the impact of the cultural variable, Barbot et al. (2004) adopted a dialectic
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model (see Figure P.1) stressing the character of the two types of transmission
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(managerial and patrimonial) and the psychological characteristics of the key actors. By
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depicting the succession process as based on two principal actors (in this case father and
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daughter), the retained model integrates both the psychology of the actors and their
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intertwining (which constitutes one of the essential characteristics of family business).
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Equally demonstrated is the impact of culture on relationships between the primary
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subjects of the process.
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4. Preface 5
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Enterprise
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Company culture (steeped with Company culture (steeped with
the family culture) the family culture)
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Managerial transmission
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Patrimonial transmission
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Manager Successor
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National socio-culture/
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tradition/lifestyle/
education/training
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Culture
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Figure P.1 A multidimensional model of succession in family businesses
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Source: Barbot, Bayad and Bourguiba, 2004
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Family relationships change and vary across cultures. This difference will eventually
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give way to modifications in father–daughter succession across culture. On the basis
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of this model and in line with a comparative framework, our study aimed to be cross-
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cultural in nature. The main interest of this book’s contribution lies in illustrating the
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importance of the cultural dimension in the process of handing over family businesses
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from father to daughter. The cultural approach chosen seeks to better understand the
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systems of representation, the internal reasoning of each firm (the ways of being together)
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so as to adapt management practices to national/cultural particularities. The case studies
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presented differences and/or similarities between how 14 family businesses, representing
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different ethnic cultural value systems, are passed on from father to daughter.
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Biographical Narration: Giving Voice to the Daughter Chief
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Executive Officer and Father’s Legacy
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Biographical data for the case studies of the father–daughter succession process across
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cultures as personated in this book were collected through the qualitative method of
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biographical narration. This method follows a swiftly increasing interest on the part of
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social sciences in the study of lives. Among others, methods of oral history, ethnography,
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narrative, and autobiography are relaying how individuals give meaning to their life
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experiences. Methodological and theoretical developments in this kind of research within
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the social sciences have given rise to an increase in literature addressing issues regarding
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the collection of materials, the use and interpretation of oral and written biographical
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accounts, audience, and reflexivity. Biographical narrations draw out common themes
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and emerging concerns between the subject and the researcher on his/her environment,
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past history, present moment, and future life path (Halkias and Caracatsanis, 2011; Lund
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Thomsen, 2006). The biographical narrative method presents a viable research method
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for understanding how the past lives of family firm leaders allow us to make sense of the
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reasoning behind certain actions in the father–daughter succession process, as well as
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highlight cultural elements of this succession process.
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5. 6 Father–Daughter Succession in Family Business
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If one is to understand how daughter–successors navigate in diverse national and
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cultural settings, it is methodologically sound to gather data on their personal history.
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By this approach, a researcher can assign pertinence to the daughter’s recounting of
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experiences and interactions. Such modes of investigation further allow for similarities
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and differences among the daughter–successors being studied cross-nationally to
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emerge and, through this undertaking, cultural influence, entrepreneurial dynamics,
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and common practices can be identified. Researchers can then also link personal value
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systems and exogenous factors relating to cultural, political and/or social movements and
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how interplay in these areas influences identity construction of the individual daughter–
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successor in the family business.
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Epilogue
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The told story of the father–daughter succession must first be presented from the
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individual daughter–successor’s biographical account. This takes us to an innovative
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research approach for holistically studying the father–daughter succession process in
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family businesses across cultures. In this book, we combine the two variables of enduring
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cultural values and the daughter’s biographical narration into a single story presented in
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each of these case studies. The methodological significance of bringing these two variables
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together lies in giving researchers the means to explore the personal evolution of these
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women and thus give meaning to the family and managerial imperatives inherent in
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enabling a smooth father–daughter succession for family businesses across cultures.
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Bibliography
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6. Preface 7
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