Succession within the Context of Family Firms in the GGVV-Region : Individual and Organizational Level Factors

Background: Succession is a crucial concern for family business owners where an issue of importance is to retain the control within the family. Succession is a planned process which must be put in place to rearrange the leadership from one family member to another. It is a fragile process which requires a precise and in- depth planning as a result of the different essence of family firms. One of the most thriving and successful entrepreneurship regions in Sweden is the GGVV-region, Gnosjö, Gislaved, Värnamo and Vaggeryd, located in south of Sweden and consists of many family firms. Most of the companies in the GGVV-region are successful, at the same time, family firms in this region manage to go through successions and keep the business within the family. However, there is a little research available on succession within the GGVV-region. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to discover and examine the individual- and organizational level factors involved in succession for family members within family firms in the GGVV-region. The study will also identify what challenges family firms in this region deal with during the succession process. Method: The research was made with a qualitative approach, using in-depth, semi-structured interviews to collect the data. Ten face-to-face interviews were conducted with family firm owners in order to gather information about the succession process. An inductive approach has been used to analyze and interpret the data. Conclusion: It was concluded that common individual level- and organizational level factors has a major impact and is of importance when it comes to the succession process within the GGVV-region. Furthermore, it was also found that challenges such as; understand the complexity, clear work description andreleasing the control tend to have a crucial role within the succession process