Title: Exploring family business succession in an integrative familiness transmission of capital model: a South African study

Authors: W.P. Venter, S. Kruger, B. Urban

Addresses: Altron (Allied Electronics Corporation Limited), 4 Sherbourne Road, Parktown 2193, South Africa. ' Faculty of Management, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park, 2006, South Africa. ' Wits Business School, University of Witwatersrand, P.O. Box 98, Parktown, 2193, South Africa

Abstract: This study investigates how familiness could ensure successful transition of family-capital, by modelling the different evolutionary stages through which the transmission of capital takes place. The study is contextualised in South Africa, where more than half of listed businesses are family firms. The nurturing of family businesses in South Africa has been cited as an important aspect in the stimulation of the economy as well as the creation of enduring social stability. Results are reported from interviewing (n = 66) family executives, identifying salient variables influencing channels which depict important pathways in which reciprocal relationships are acted out. Resonating with previous studies the present study finds that successors observe a rich array of variables which influence transmission channels. This study makes a modest contribution to the literature of family business by conceptualising a model that explains the developmental stages of each generation succession. Even more so by interrogating factors conceptualised from a predominantly Western perspective, the study is a starting point for research investigating familiness in a developing country context.

Keywords: integrative familiness; South Africa; capital transmission; family businesses; social stability; economic stimulation; economy; reciprocal relationships; generational succession; Western perspectives; developing countries; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; entrepreneurs; entrepreneurship; family firms; financing; corporate governance; succession issues.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2010.035818

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2010 Vol.11 No.3, pp.263 - 284

Published online: 05 Oct 2010 *

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