Title: Impact of successors' social skills in family firms

Authors: Hedi Yezza; Didier Chabaud

Addresses: EDC Paris Business School, OCRE-Lab, 70 Galerie des damiers – Paris la Défense 1, 92415 Courbevoie Cedex, Paris, France ' IAE Paris – Sorbonne Business School, Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, 8bis Rue de la Croix Jarry, 75013 Paris, France

Abstract: Succession is connected to family firms' low rate of long-term survival. This research tests the effects of a successor's social skills on the success of succession in family firms. It extends the studies of Baron and Markman (2000, 2003), who emphasise the role of social skills in the early stages of the venturing process. To bridge this conceptual and empirical gap, a quantitative study was conducted on 77 companies that had experienced at least one succession in their recent history. The results indicate that the dimensions of social skills influence the success of succession in different ways. The successor's self-promotion has a negative effect, whereas his or her social adaptability, social perception, ingratiation, expressiveness, education level, and experience within the family firm have a positive impact. Lastly, this research provides a better understanding of emerging economies in Africa.

Keywords: family business; succession; social skills; successors.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2020.109011

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2020 Vol.40 No.4, pp.465 - 487

Received: 15 Mar 2018
Accepted: 03 Jun 2018
Published online: 17 Aug 2020 *

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