Building Our Understanding of Daughters’ Inclusion in the Family Business Succession Process

Abstract

This chapter expands our understanding of daughters’ inclusion in family business succession, analyzing why and how it can and does take place. Our work reveals that things are much more complex and diverse than research tells us in terms of daughters, their families, and their businesses.

Daughters are not only “in” or “out” of the family business. They can be included in a variety of ways, at different moments, following different paths, in a diversity of contexts. Based on 10 years of qualitative research data on family business succession, we explain and discuss how gender dynamics in the family and the business systems affect succession practices and outcomes, beyond the individual level analysis.

We used six selected and contrasted cases to illustrate the influence that gender, birth order, family inherited culture, business hierarchies and history, interpersonal relationships (parents-heirs-other stakeholders), as well as ownership transfers, governance rules and management procedures have on intergenerational succession, and particularly in daughters’ family business inclusion. From our findings, readers can draw practical recommendations for family business owners, managers and successors.

Citation

Constantinidis, C., Nelson, T. and Harou, I.O. (2022), "Building Our Understanding of Daughters’ Inclusion in the Family Business Succession Process", Trevinyo-Rodríguez, R.N. and Gallo, M.Á. (Ed.) The Power of Inclusion in Family Business, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 113-133. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80117-578-420221007