Learning alongside and learning apart: successor nurturing styles in family business succession

Abstract

Successor nurturing is vital to family business succession. However, research on successor nurturing styles remains limited. This paper aims to contribute to the literature by examining this issue. We identify two nurturing styles, namely, learning alongside and learning apart. Drawing on the knowledge-based view, we discuss the influence of the necessity of passing on various types of tacit knowledge on determining nurturing styles. Specifically, we argue that family firms in manufacturing industries and industrial products are more likely to adopt a nurturing style of learning apart, while those in service industries and consumer products are more likely to adopt learning alongside. We posit that these relationships are stronger for large firms and higher successor educational level, but weaker under a good relationship between the incumbent and successor. Using a sample of 199 Chinese family firms, we found support for the proposed relationships.