Challenges of a female successor of a family business

Family businesses are the backbone of the German economy and, indeed, of almost all economies in the world. Every year business owners face many challenges, one of which is the succession process. Unfortunately, daughters are often considered or perceived as less suitable or viable choice for the position of a successor, compared to sons. The aim of the master thesis is to identify potential challenges a female successor faces when taking over a family business and whether various strategic and/or structural requirements need to be considered by the daughter within the succession process. Empirical data has been gathered within the methodological framework of the grounded theory. Semi-guided expert interviews have been conducted to gain empirical insights. The results indicate that the challenges each individual successor will experience as most crucial or difficult will always depend on her personal character, on the senior family mem bers’ behaviour during the succession process, and on the company ’s hand-over capability at the outset of the process. Moreover, the strategic and/or structural requirements the successor faces are not as much influenced by gender, as by the up- or out-dated circumstances of the existing strategies and structures of the family business, which will ultimately determine the requirements the daughter has to fulfil. In conclusion, the succession process is very complex and burdened with emotions from the family members. Having a clear road map for the succession that leaves room for improvement in case of unpredictable factors in advance can be essential for the success of the succession. Hiring an external expert as support can be beneficial as well. Additionally, the daughter aspiring to lead her fami ly’s company must be 100 % sure that her life’s vision is compatible with the vision of the family business