Shared Identity, Family Influence, and the Transgenerational Intentions in Family Firms

Raj V. Mahto, Jiun-Shiu Chen, William C. McDowell and Saurabh Ahluwalia
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Raj V. Mahto: Anderson School of Management, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Jiun-Shiu Chen: College of Business, McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA 70605, USA
William C. McDowell: Foster College of Business, Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625, USA

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: A family’s transgenerational intention (TI) to pass ownership of the firm to the next generation of family members is the defining characteristic of a family. TI reflects a family’s intention to engage in succession planning, which is the primary predictor for succession success. In this study, we draw on psychological ownership theory to develop and test a model of a family’s TI. In the model, we argue that family influence impacts TI through shared identity. We also argue that a family firm CEO’s relationship to the family (by blood vs. marriage vs. hire) moderates the relationship between shared identity and TI. We tested our hypotheses and the model on a sample of North American family firms and found support for most hypotheses.

Keywords: family influence; shared identity; transgenerational intentions; CEO family ties (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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