1) The document provides an introduction and preface to a book exploring father-daughter succession in family businesses across different cultural contexts. 2) It summarizes the research model used in previous studies that examined how cultural factors can influence the succession process between fathers and daughters in family firms. 3) The preface discusses the importance of using biographical narratives from daughter CEOs to understand how cultural elements shape their experiences taking over the family business from their fathers.

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Father–Daughter
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Succession in
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Family Business
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A Cross-Cultural Perspective
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Edited by
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Daphne Halkias,
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Paul W. Thurman,
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Celina Smith and
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Robert S. Nason
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2. © Copyrighted Material
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Preface:
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Where Culture, Family and Business Meet:
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Developing Cross-National Research on
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the Father–Daughter Succession Process
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in Family Firms
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Daphne Halkias
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Why Focus on Culture in the Succession Process of Family Business?
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The family firm is an increasingly vital player in the global economy. One of the events
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that may disrupt the smooth evolution of a family business is a generation transition and
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succession. An important issue that is evolving in the family business literature is the
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increasing involvement of women in leadership/management roles in businesses and,
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more specifically, the family firm. In the developing economies of Asia and Africa as well
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as the developed ones in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand there is
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sparse case study research in the extant literature on cross-cultural gender issues in the
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family firm ownership and succession (Halkias et al., 2008; 2010).
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If entrepreneurship can be considered as an event induced by socio-cultural factors
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(Shapero and Sokol, 1982), the cultural variable gains greater significance when applied
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to the quality of the relationship between family members involved in the succession
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process and specifically, in this book, for the case of father to daughter. National culture
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generates behavioral changes through family, training, education, traditions, lifestyles,
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politics, religion and degrees of masculinity–femininity, individualism–collectivism
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(Hofstede, 1997; Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 2003). Within family firms, the
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cultural context can affect behaviors and, in the same way, management styles, be
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they an individual’s, the family’s or the firm’s (Barbot, 2004). In line with this, other
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recent research has addressed the issue of national cultural attitudes influencing the
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entrepreneurial behavior and outcomes of an ethnic or regional population (Ibid.).
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With respect to the lack of research integrating culture on one hand and the
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specificity of females taking over family businesses, the research presented in this book
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by an eminent group of scholars aims at exploring the influence of culture—ethnic,
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regional, religious—on the process of father–daughter succession in family firms. We were
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particularly interested in exploring the cultural variables influencing father–daughter
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succession in family businesses across 14 cultural settings never before considered in the
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extant literature.
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3. 4 Father–Daughter Succession in Family Business
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Entrepreneurship is truly a phenomenon which is above all cultural. With this in mind, the
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successful transmission of a firm involves respecting the national culture in which it is found.
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(Barbot et al., 2004:4)
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The research model used as a foundation for developing a methodology for these case
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studies was presented in a landmark cross-national study conducted by Barbot et al.,
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(2004) exploring the influence of culture among father–daughter succession in France
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and Tunisia. This study identified factors which influence the succession process
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according to two different cultural contexts. Its hypotheses highlighted that beyond
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sexual diversity (female/male), the stages of the succession process could change within
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the same gender of successors (females) due to cultural factors. Within the succession
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frame of the daughter taking over, differences can be stated and explained through
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the predominance of national culture in family and managerial relationships. On the
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basis of these observations and adopting a comparative approach, Barbot et al. (2004)
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investigated differences and/or similarities between how father to daughter successions
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occur in Tunisian and French family businesses.
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In their conclusions, Barbot et al. (2004) stated that with respect to entrepreneurship
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in general and family business succession in particular, their investigation illuminated
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that researchers must take into account the cultural context.
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The recognition of the importance of tradition leads us, by no means, to consider societies as
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motionless, mere reflections of folkloric caricatures. Finally, we may conclude that best practice
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research cannot be undertaken as an end to itself. Indeed, instead of imitating other countries,
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it is necessary to identify the value of one’s own traditions. Each country is characterized by
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“fundamental traits which pass the test of time.”
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(D’Iribarne, 1989)
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A Defining Model to Research the Cultural Variable in Family
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Business Succession
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In order to address the question of the specificity of father–daughter transfer, while
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considering the impact of the cultural variable, Barbot et al. (2004) adopted a dialectic
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model (see Figure P.1) stressing the character of the two types of transmission
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(managerial and patrimonial) and the psychological characteristics of the key actors. By
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depicting the succession process as based on two principal actors (in this case father and
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daughter), the retained model integrates both the psychology of the actors and their
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intertwining (which constitutes one of the essential characteristics of family business).
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Equally demonstrated is the impact of culture on relationships between the primary
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subjects of the process.
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4. Preface 5
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Enterprise
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Company culture (steeped with Company culture (steeped with
the family culture) the family culture)
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Managerial transmission
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Patrimonial transmission
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Manager Successor
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National socio-culture/
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tradition/lifestyle/
education/training
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Culture
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Figure P.1 A multidimensional model of succession in family businesses
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Source: Barbot, Bayad and Bourguiba, 2004
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Family relationships change and vary across cultures. This difference will eventually
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give way to modifications in father–daughter succession across culture. On the basis
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of this model and in line with a comparative framework, our study aimed to be cross-
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cultural in nature. The main interest of this book’s contribution lies in illustrating the
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importance of the cultural dimension in the process of handing over family businesses
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from father to daughter. The cultural approach chosen seeks to better understand the
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systems of representation, the internal reasoning of each firm (the ways of being together)
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so as to adapt management practices to national/cultural particularities. The case studies
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presented differences and/or similarities between how 14 family businesses, representing
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different ethnic cultural value systems, are passed on from father to daughter.
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Biographical Narration: Giving Voice to the Daughter Chief
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Executive Officer and Father’s Legacy
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Biographical data for the case studies of the father–daughter succession process across
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cultures as personated in this book were collected through the qualitative method of
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biographical narration. This method follows a swiftly increasing interest on the part of
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social sciences in the study of lives. Among others, methods of oral history, ethnography,
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narrative, and autobiography are relaying how individuals give meaning to their life
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experiences. Methodological and theoretical developments in this kind of research within
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the social sciences have given rise to an increase in literature addressing issues regarding
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the collection of materials, the use and interpretation of oral and written biographical
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accounts, audience, and reflexivity. Biographical narrations draw out common themes
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and emerging concerns between the subject and the researcher on his/her environment,
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past history, present moment, and future life path (Halkias and Caracatsanis, 2011; Lund
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Thomsen, 2006). The biographical narrative method presents a viable research method
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for understanding how the past lives of family firm leaders allow us to make sense of the
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reasoning behind certain actions in the father–daughter succession process, as well as
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highlight cultural elements of this succession process.
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5. 6 Father–Daughter Succession in Family Business
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If one is to understand how daughter–successors navigate in diverse national and
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cultural settings, it is methodologically sound to gather data on their personal history.
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By this approach, a researcher can assign pertinence to the daughter’s recounting of
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experiences and interactions. Such modes of investigation further allow for similarities
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and differences among the daughter–successors being studied cross-nationally to
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emerge and, through this undertaking, cultural influence, entrepreneurial dynamics,
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and common practices can be identified. Researchers can then also link personal value
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systems and exogenous factors relating to cultural, political and/or social movements and
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how interplay in these areas influences identity construction of the individual daughter–
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successor in the family business.
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Epilogue
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The told story of the father–daughter succession must first be presented from the
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individual daughter–successor’s biographical account. This takes us to an innovative
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research approach for holistically studying the father–daughter succession process in
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family businesses across cultures. In this book, we combine the two variables of enduring
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cultural values and the daughter’s biographical narration into a single story presented in
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each of these case studies. The methodological significance of bringing these two variables
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together lies in giving researchers the means to explore the personal evolution of these
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women and thus give meaning to the family and managerial imperatives inherent in
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enabling a smooth father–daughter succession for family businesses across cultures.
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6. Preface 7
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