Entrepreneurial legacy: Toward a theory of how some family firms nurture transgenerational entrepreneurship

Peter Jaskiewicz, James G. Combs and Sabine B. Rau

Journal of Business Venturing, 2015, vol. 30, issue 1, 29-49

Abstract: Research shows that family firms are less entrepreneurial, on average, especially after the founder departs. There are notable exceptions, however, and so we build a new theory to explain how these exceptional firms accomplish transgenerational entrepreneurship. Specifically, we conducted in-depth interviews with owners and (potential) successors in 21 German wineries that are, on average, in their 11th generation. We introduce entrepreneurial legacy, which we define as the family's rhetorical reconstruction of past entrepreneurial achievements or resilience, and theorize that it motivates incumbent and next-generation owners to engage in strategic activities that foster transgenerational entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial legacy thus helps explain transgenerational entrepreneurship and has implications for family-firm, imprinting, and succession research.

Keywords: Transgenerational entrepreneurship; Multi-generation family firms; Qualitative research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (137)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbvent:v:30:y:2015:i:1:p:29-49

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2014.07.001

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