INTRODUCTION
Next-generation family members’ willingness to succeed in their family businesses has been low in recent years. According to the 2013–2014 results of the GUESSS project, which surveyed 109,000 students from 750 universities in 34 countries, only 3.5% of students whose parents had a family business intended to become a successor immediately after graduation, and only 4.9% reported succession intentions five years after graduation. Similarly, in China, where family businesses contribute 60% of China's GDP and 80% of employment, the rate of next-generation succession intentions has been very low, only about 20%, leading to a succession crisis.[Footnote 1] This low rate of succession intention poses a serious challenge to the continuity of family vision, values, and goals (Cabrera-Suárez & Martín-Santana, Reference Cabrera-Suárez and Martín-Santana2012; Cabrera-Suárez, De Saá-Pérez, & García-Almeida, Reference Cabrera-Suárez, De Saá-Pérez and García-Almeida2001), and hence to transgenerational longevity and the competitive advantage of family businesses (Bjuggren & Sund, Reference Bjuggren and Sund2001; Cabrera-Suárez, Reference Cabrera-Suárez2005; Cabrera-Suárez et al., Reference Cabrera-Suárez, De Saá-Pérez and García-Almeida2001; Handler, Reference Handler1994; Howorth & Assaraf Ali, Reference Howorth and Assaraf Ali2001; Royer, Simons, Boyd, & Rafferty, Reference Royer, Simons, Boyd and Rafferty2008). Given that successful succession requires willing, self-motivated, and achievement-oriented successors (Cabrera-Suárez, Reference Cabrera-Suárez2005; De Massis, Chua, & Chrisman, Reference De Massis, Chua and Chrisman2008; Parker, Reference Parker2016; Sharma, Chrisman, & Chua, Reference Sharma, Chrisman and Chua2003; Sharma, Chrisman, Pablo, & Chua, Reference Sharma, Chrisman, Pablo and Chua2001; Sharma & Irving, Reference Sharma and Irving2005), it is important to better understand the factors that influence next-generation family members’ succession intentions.
The existing family business succession literature suggests many factors influencing succession, such as business-related factors (Gersick, Gersick, Davis, Hampton, & Lansberg, Reference Gersick, Gersick, Davis, Hampton and Lansberg1997; Sharma et al., Reference Sharma, Chrisman, Pablo and Chua2001; Stavrou, Reference Stavrou1999; Stavrou & Swiercz, Reference Stavrou and Swiercz1998), personal factors of next-generation family members (Birley, Reference Birley2002; Chalus-Sauvannet, Deschamps, & Cisneros, Reference Chalus-Sauvannet, Deschamps and Cisneros2016; Schröder, Schmitt-Rodermund, & Arnaud, Reference Schröder, Schmitt-Rodermund and Arnaud2011; Sharma et al., Reference Sharma, Chrisman, Pablo and Chua2001; Stavrou, Reference Stavrou1999; Stavrou & Swiercz, Reference Stavrou and Swiercz1998), parents’ willingness to pass on control of the business (Schröder et al., Reference Schröder, Schmitt-Rodermund and Arnaud2011), and family-related factors, such as parent–offspring relations, family relationships, and family values, needs, and desires (Chalus-Sauvannet et al., Reference Chalus-Sauvannet, Deschamps and Cisneros2016; Stavrou, Reference Stavrou1999; Stavrou & Swiercz, Reference Stavrou and Swiercz1998). One factor that has recently been emphasized to influence the next generation's succession intentions is parental behaviors – that is, the support and control that parents display in front of their children (Barber, Stolz, Olsen, Collins, & Burchinal, Reference Barber, Stolz, Olsen, Collins and Burchinal2005; Hoeve, Dubas, Eichelsheim, van der Laan, Smeenk, & Gerris, Reference Hoeve, Dubas, Eichelsheim, van der Laan, Smeenk and Gerris2009).
Parents are the closest and earliest social contacts of children. Interactions with parents can influence children's personality, values, attitudes, and behaviors throughout their entire life, including their career choice (Carr & Sequeira, Reference Carr and Sequeira2007; Miller, Steier, & Le Breton-Miller, Reference Miller, Steier and Le Breton-Miller2003). Drawing on self-determination theory, McMullen and Warnick (Reference McMullen and Warnick2015) theorized that incumbents of family businesses can facilitate the next generation's integration of business-related activities by satisfying their perceived autonomy, competency, and relatedness in the family business. Garcia, Sharma, De Massis, Wright, and Scholes (Reference Garcia, Sharma, De Massis, Wright and Scholes2019) also theorized that parental support and psychological control can influence the next generation's engagement in family firms through family business self-efficacy and commitment. Despite the insights from existing research described above, current theorization focuses mainly on business-domain parental behaviors, that is, parental behaviors occurring in the business domain, such as offering the next generation opportunities to work in the family business, career-related modeling, verbal encouragement for joining the family firm, and emotional support at work (Garcia et al., Reference Garcia, Sharma, De Massis, Wright and Scholes2019; McMullen & Warnick, Reference McMullen and Warnick2015). But, in the context of a family business, the business and family are inextricably intertwined (Olson, Zuiker, Danes, Stafford, Heck, & Duncan, Reference Olson, Zuiker, Danes, Stafford, Heck and Duncan2003; Tagiuri & Davis, Reference Tagiuri and Davis1996). It is very likely that family-domain parental behaviors, that is, parental behaviors occurring in the early years of the child's development in the family, can also influence the next generation's attitudes and behavior in the succession process (Miller et al., Reference Miller, Steier and Le Breton-Miller2003). How the family-domain parental behaviors that next-generation family members perceive in their early life can influence their succession intentions, thus, is worth theorization and empirical investigation.
To address this research gap, we integrate attachment theory (Bowlby, Reference Bowlby1982), the person-job fit literature (Edwards, Reference Edwards2008), and the succession literature to examine how perceived parental care influences the next generation's succession intentions. Attachment theory proposes that a secure parent–child relationship developed based on the child's perceived strong parental care (Jonason, Lyons, & Bethell, Reference Jonason, Lyons and Bethell2014; Perris & Andersson, Reference Perris and Andersson2000; Wiseman, Mayseless, & Sharabany, Reference Wiseman, Mayseless and Sharabany2006) can influence the child's sense of self, as well as environmental and career exploration (Blustein, Reference Blustein1997; Ketterson & Blustein, Reference Ketterson and Blustein1997; Vignoli, Croity-Belz, Chapeland, de Fillipis, & Garcia, Reference Vignoli, Croity-Belz, Chapeland, de Fillipis and Garcia2005). Family business succession is considered a career choice for the next generation of family businesses because it entails a long-term commitment to work in the family business and lead it to success. Therefore, attachment theory offers an appropriate theoretical framework in understanding the influence of family-domain parental behaviors (i.e., perceived parental care) on individuals’ career development (Wright & Perrone, Reference Wright and Perrone2008).
Furthermore, complementary to attachment theory, which is often applied to explain individuals’ career exploration confidence (Lease & Dahlbeck, Reference Lease and Dahlbeck2009; Vignoli et al., Reference Vignoli, Croity-Belz, Chapeland, de Fillipis and Garcia2005) rather than a specific career choice, we use the person-job fit literature to extend attachment theory to the examination of the next generation's succession intentions (as a career choice). Person-job fit is a critical proximal antecedent of an individual's job choice (Carless, Reference Carless2005; Christensen & Wright, Reference Christensen and Wright2011; Holland, Reference Holland1997; Mulki, Jaramillo, & Locander, Reference Mulki, Jaramillo and Locander2006) and is influenced by general self-efficacy beliefs (i.e., individuals’ global beliefs in their abilities to perform across various situations) (Betz & Klein, Reference Betz and Klein1996; Grether, Sowislo, & Wiese, Reference Grether, Sowislo and Wiese2018; Luszczynska, Scholz, & Schwarzer, Reference Luszczynska, Scholz and Schwarzer2005; Song & Chon, Reference Song and Chon2012), which in turn is affected by family-domain parental behaviors (Frank, Plunkett, & Otten, Reference Frank, Plunkett and Otten2010; Ingoldsby, Schvaneveldt, Supple, & Bush, Reference Ingoldsby, Schvaneveldt, Supple and Bush2003). We thus expect that general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit play a sequential-mediating role in the relationship between perceived parental care and the next generation's succession intentions.
We empirically verified our theoretical framework using surveys with two different samples in China – that is, a student-next-generation sample that did not have any full-time work experience and a working-next-generation sample that was currently working outside their family businesses. Post hoc qualitative interviews were also conducted to offer supplementary evidence and explanations. We study the Chinese context due to the unique characteristics of Chinese parents’ behavior and high relevance of parental behavior to Chinese family firm succession. Many Chinese family business incumbents spend substantial time in developing the business with the purpose of accumulating family wealth to give their family, especially their children, a better life. The incumbent owners often say to the next generation, ‘I am doing this for you’. This is one of their ways of offering love and care to their family. However, the substantial time spent on developing the family firm leaves little time and few opportunities for the incumbent owners to offer emotional care and warmth to children in their developmental years. Indeed, the Chinese communication style tends to be implicit (han xu in Chinese) (Fang & Faure, Reference Fang and Faure2011). Parents may not express emotional care to children as easily as their Western counterparts do. Instead, they tend to show parental control and power assertion, which are often associated with care, concern, and involvement in Chinese culture (Chao, Reference Chao1994) and are thus less aware of the important influence of emotional care and warmth on the psychological development and future career choices of their children. Meanwhile, many Chinese family firm incumbents expect their children to have the leadership abilities needed to take over the family business, and this expectation may even be stronger given that many children are the only child in their family. This creates a potential dilemma in family business succession in China. Therefore, examining the impact of perceived parental care on the next generation's succession intentions has strong empirical implications for Chinese family firms. Our empirical results from both survey studies and post hoc interviews consistently support our theoretical framework.
The present article makes the following contributions. First, we contribute to the family business succession literature and extend the existing theoretical frameworks that focus on the impact of business-domain-specific parental behavior (e.g., Garcia et al., Reference Garcia, Sharma, De Massis, Wright and Scholes2019) by (1) highlighting the impact of family-domain parental behavior – that is, parental care that the next generation perceived in early life – on his or her succession intentions; (2) introducing general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit as sequential mediators to unpack the underlying mechanisms for how this family-domain parental behavior affects succession intentions; and (3) verifying our proposed theoretical framework using two survey studies and post hoc qualitative interviews and bringing new insights to the limited empirical evidence regarding the influence of parental behaviors on the next generation's succession intentions. By so doing, our research moves one step forward to a more holistic view of the relationship between parental behaviors and family business succession. It also enriches our knowledge of the psychological aspects of succession (Filser, Kraus, & Märk, Reference Filser, Kraus and Märk2013; Miller et al., Reference Miller, Steier and Le Breton-Miller2003).
Second, we contribute to research on family business succession in the Chinese context. The existing literature on parental behaviors tends to portray Chinese parents as more authoritarian than their Western counterparts (Chen, Hastings, Rubin, Chen, Cen, & Stewart, Reference Chen, Hastings, Rubin, Chen, Cen and Stewart1998), while giving less attention to the relevance and potential positive influence of parental care in the Chinese context. By showing that perceived parental care is highly relevant to Chinese parents and is a nuanced factor exerting an important positive impact on younger generations (e.g., their general self-efficacy) in the family business succession context, our research provides a new theoretical explanation for why some Chinese next-generation family members but not others are willing to succeed into their family businesses. Our post hoc analysis also reveals the influences of another China-specific factor on succession, filial piety (xiao in Chinese).
Last, by applying attachment theory to a specific career context, that is, family business succession, we answer calls from the broader developmental perspective of the vocational development literature to understand the relational aspects of vocational development (Blustein, Reference Blustein2001; Flum, Reference Flum2001; Hargrove, Creagh, & Burgess, Reference Hargrove, Creagh and Burgess2002; Schultheiss, Reference Schultheiss2003). Our post hoc analysis also suggests some potential boundary conditions for attachment theory when applied to the family business succession context.
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT
Attachment Theory and the Influence of Perceived Parental Care
Attachment theory concerns the central role of the attachment relationship, which refers to the close emotional bonds that individuals form with their main caregiver(s) (e.g., parents) and that influence individuals’ healthy development and participation in satisfying relationships (Bowlby, Reference Bowlby1982). Children who have regular interactions with their primary caregivers can develop secure attachment relationships to them. This is because they know their primary caregivers are available and responsive. The secure attachment relationship offers a sense of felt security, which enables children to explore their environment. The experiences in the attachment relationship are then internalized as children mature, enabling them to develop internalized schema or working models of their caregivers as being either responsive or unresponsive, of self, and of self in relation to others. The attachment behavior patterns and internalized working models formed in childhood can persist into adulthood and influence many areas of individuals’ functioning, such as relationship development, career self-efficacy, and career exploration (Blustein, Reference Blustein2001; Blustein, Prezioso, & Schultheiss, Reference Blustein, Prezioso and Schultheiss1995; Hargrove, Inman, & Crane, Reference Hargrove, Inman and Crane2005; Ketterson & Blustein, Reference Ketterson and Blustein1997; Lease & Dahlbeck, Reference Lease and Dahlbeck2009).
Parental care is the level of warmth and affection a parent displays to a child and is the emotional and warmth dimension of parental behaviors (Parker, Tupling, & Brown, Reference Parker, Tupling and Brown1979). Strong parental care can generate a sense of secure attachment in children because children perceive their parents as supportive, emotionally warm, understanding, and always available and responsive when they need help (Jonason et al., Reference Jonason, Lyons and Bethell2014; Perris & Andersson, Reference Perris and Andersson2000; Wiseman et al., Reference Wiseman, Mayseless and Sharabany2006). According to attachment theory, secure attachment relationships with parents offer individuals the sense of felt security (Ainsworth, Reference Ainsworth1989) and make them curious about their environment (Bowlby, Reference Bowlby1982). The felt security and curiosity will then motivate active exploration of the environment (Aspelmeier & Kerns, Reference Aspelmeier and Kerns2003), including the career environment (Blustein, Reference Blustein1997; Ketterson & Blustein, Reference Ketterson and Blustein1997; Vignoli et al., Reference Vignoli, Croity-Belz, Chapeland, de Fillipis and Garcia2005), such as working in the family business. Because the parent is the incumbent owner of the family business and being a successor will involve a period of time when the next generation reports to or works closely with the incumbent parent, felt security in childhood is likely to transfer to the context of working in the family business. When offered the opportunity to work in the family business and become its successor, next-generation family members raised by caring parents may feel that people in the family business (including their parents and coworkers) will be supportive and that the work environment (including the job itself and the social aspect of the work environment) is safe to explore. As a result, working in the family business will be perceived as an attractive career option, and the next generation's succession intentions will be high. Hence,
Hypothesis 1: Perceived parental care is positively related to next-generation family members’ succession intentions.
The Mediating Roles of General Self-Efficacy and Perceived Person-Job Fit
In addition to the direct impact of perceived parental care on succession intentions, we continue to unpack the underlying mechanism for this relationship and focus on the sequential-mediating role of general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit. Following Basit's (Reference Basit2017) approach and consistent with Hayes's (Reference Hayes2013) SPSS PROCESS macro Model 6 (i.e., our data analysis method) to test sequential mediation, we first hypothesize that general self-efficacy mediates the relationship between perceived parental care and succession intentions. We then hypothesize that perceived person-job fit mediates the relationship between perceived parental care and succession intentions. Finally, we propose the sequential mediation hypothesis with general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit as sequential mediators for the relationship between perceived parental care and succession intentions.
General self-efficacy is individuals’ global beliefs in their abilities to perform across various situations (Judge, Erez, & Bono, Reference Judge, Erez and Bono1998) and is a trait and stable cognition (Shelton, Reference Shelton1990; Sherer, Maddux, Mercandante, Prentice-Dunn, Jacobs, & Rogers, Reference Sherer, Maddux, Mercandante, Prentice-Dunn, Jacobs and Rogers1982). Regarding the influence of general self-efficacy, previous research has offered extensive empirical evidence that parents who display warmth, affection, and support to their children enable them to develop strong general self-efficacy (Frank et al., Reference Frank, Plunkett and Otten2010; Hoeltje, Silbum, Garton, & Zubrick, Reference Hoeltje, Silbum, Garton and Zubrick1996; Ingoldsby et al., Reference Ingoldsby, Schvaneveldt, Supple and Bush2003; van Ingen et al., Reference van Ingen, Freiheit, Steinfeldt, Moore, Wimer, Knutt, Scapinello and Roberts2015). The rationale is embedded into attachment theory. Strong parental support and care enable children to form a secure attachment relationship with their parents and also help them to develop an internalized working model of people as accepting, responsive, and supportive (Bowlby, Reference Bowlby1988). This working model can make children feel safe to explore their environment and to initiate and build relationships with people (Ainsworth, Reference Ainsworth1989; Bowlby, Reference Bowlby1988). As a result, children are likely to feel confident in meeting challenges and achieving goals across various situations (Gecas & Schwalbe, Reference Gecas and Schwalbe1986; Swenson & Prelow, Reference Swenson and Prelow2005), and their general self-efficacy accumulated from these successes will be high.
High general self-efficacy can enhance individuals’ expectations of mastery in new situations (Sherer et al., Reference Sherer, Maddux, Mercandante, Prentice-Dunn, Jacobs and Rogers1982). Therefore, when thinking about working in and eventually taking over their family business, which is a new work environment for them, next-generation family members with high general self-efficacy are likely to believe that they can develop the abilities and skills required by the successor role (Barach & Ganitsky, Reference Barach and Ganitsky1995; Dyck, Mauws, Starke, & Mischke, Reference Dyck, Mauws, Starke and Mischke2002; Mazzola, Marchisio, & Astrachan, Reference Mazzola, Marchisio and Astrachan2008), complete job-related tasks, and master the work environment. Given that positive outcome expectations of a career increase individuals’ tendency to explore the career (Betz & Voyten, Reference Betz and Voyten1997; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, Reference Lent, Brown and Hackett1994; Lent, Brown, Nota, & Soresi, Reference Lent, Brown, Nota and Soresi2003), we expect that the next generation's positive expectations about working in the family business can also increase their succession intentions. Hence,
Hypothesis 2: General self-efficacy mediates the relationship between perceived parental care and next-generation family members’ succession intentions such that stronger perceived parental care increases general self-efficacy, which in turn increases the next generation's succession intentions.
The notion of fit is also closely related to family business succession. Rogal (Reference Rogal1989) believed that assessing the fit of career interests, abilities, and the successor role is a critical factor in succession planning. Similarly, Sharma et al. (Reference Sharma, Chrisman, Pablo and Chua2001) proposed that fit between next-generation family members’ career interests and the business is one predictor of the next generation's propensity to take over the family business. In this article, next-generation family members’ perceived person-job fit refers to perceptions and judgments of congruence between their skills and needs and what can be offered by the successor job (Cable & Judge, Reference Cable and Judge1996; Kristof-Brown, Reference Kristof-Brown2000; Saks & Ashforth, Reference Saks and Ashforth1997). It consists of two aspects: demands-abilities fit and needs-supplies fit.
According to attachment theory, children raised by caring parents can perceive their parents as supportive, emotionally warm, understanding, and always available and responsive. Perceived strong parental care enables children to form a secure attachment relationship with their parents, which in turn helps them to form positive internalized working models/schema and expectations that others will be accepting and respond in a positive manner (Bowlby, Reference Bowlby1988). This perception of support is essential for performing the challenging successor role and tasks in the family business. On the one hand, this support can be a valuable job resource (Schaufeli & Bakker, Reference Schaufeli and Bakker2004) that makes the next generation feel that they have sufficient resources and are competent to address job demands efficiently and effectively, thereby enhancing their perceived demands-abilities fit (Lu, Wang, Lu, Du, & Bakker, Reference Lu, Wang, Lu, Du and Bakker2014; Tims, Derks, & Bakker, Reference Tims, Derks and Bakker2016). On the other hand, when perceiving that support is available from the incumbent and other coworkers, next-generation family members can expect it to be easy to establish good relationships with their parents and future coworkers at work (Kenny & Rice, Reference Kenny and Rice1995) and therefore feel connected to the family firm. Their relational needs can, thus, be satisfied in the family business, and their perceived needs-supplies fit will be promoted (Ryan & Deci, Reference Ryan and Deci2000; Tims et al., Reference Tims, Derks and Bakker2016). Because the perceptions of congruence between an employee's needs and skills and job demands are essential components of perceived person-job fit (Cable & Judge, Reference Cable and Judge1996; Kristof-Brown, Reference Kristof-Brown2000; Saks & Ashforth, Reference Saks and Ashforth1997), we expect that strong parental care and the resulting perception of support available will likely make next-generation family members believe that the successor job is a good fit for them. Our argument is also supported by Boon, Den Hartog, Boselie, and Paauwe's (Reference Boon, Den Hartog, Boselie and Paauwe2011) assertion that job characteristics such as social support are positively related to perceived person-job fit.
In organizational settings, employees perceiving high person-job fit are likely to be attracted to an organization, become committed to their current organization, or engage in their existing job, whereas those perceiving a poor fit with their jobs are likely to leave their firms (Carless, Reference Carless2005; Greguras & Diefendorff, Reference Greguras and Diefendorff2009; Kristof-Brown, Reference Kristof-Brown2000; Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman, & Johnson, Reference Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman and Johnson2005). We, in turn, expect that next-generation family members perceiving a high fit with the successor job can develop a strong intention to work in and take over their family business. Hence,
Hypothesis 3: Perceived person-job fit mediates the relationship between perceived parental care and next-generation family members’ succession intentions such that stronger perceived parental care increases perceived person-job fit, which in turn increases the next generation's succession intentions.
Finally, perceived parental care may not directly influence perceived person-job fit. Rather, this relationship may be mediated by general self-efficacy for two reasons. First, general self-efficacy is a global sense of self derived from one's successes in performing activities in various domains (Judge et al., Reference Judge, Erez and Bono1998) and is a strong predictor to estimate domain-specific self-efficacy and other attitudes (Betz & Klein, Reference Betz and Klein1996; Grether et al., Reference Grether, Sowislo and Wiese2018; Luszczynska et al., Reference Luszczynska, Scholz and Schwarzer2005; Song & Chon, Reference Song and Chon2012). Because perceived person-job fit is a domain-specific factor, demonstrating the next generation's perceived fit with the successor job, we expect that general self-efficacy precedes this domain-specific factor. Second, general self-efficacy is individuals’ global beliefs in their abilities to perform across various situations (Judge et al., Reference Judge, Erez and Bono1998) and is accumulated from individuals’ successes in achieving goals across various situations (Gecas & Schwalbe, Reference Gecas and Schwalbe1986; Swenson & Prelow, Reference Swenson and Prelow2005). Therefore, high general self-efficacy is very likely to promote people's perception that they have or can develop the needed abilities to successfully meet job demands. This perception of good demands-abilities fit can also help people develop a perception of good person-job fit. Together with our previous argument that perceived parental care influences the next generation's general self-efficacy, we can expect that the relationship between perceived parental care and the next generation's succession intentions is sequentially mediated by general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit (see Figure 1). Accordingly,
Hypothesis 4: Next-generation family members’ general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit will play a sequential-mediating role in the relationship between perceived parental care and next-generation family members’ succession intentions.
Figure 1. Theoretical framework
METHODS
To test our hypotheses, we conducted two studies using two samples of next-generation family members in Chinese family firms. Family firms account for 80% of China's private businesses, according to data from the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and make a significant contribution to the nation's economic development by providing more than 60% of China's GDP, 75% of technological innovation, 80% of employment, and 90% of new urban jobs. However, 80% of the young-generation family members do not have succession intentions, making the transgenerational survival of family firms difficult.[Footnote 2]
In Study 1, we surveyed university students who were next-generation members of family firms in China. To locate those students, we circulated our survey link in the social media groups of postgraduate and undergraduate (Years 2–4) students of two universities in eastern China. We focused on these students because they were at the stage of being influenced by role models, exploring career options, and making career plans and choices, and taking over their family businesses was likely to be one of their options. We adopted three criteria to select our student participants: (1) the participant's parent(s) owned a business when the survey was conducted, (2) the participant viewed that business as a family business, and (3) the participant's parent(s) was (were) the top decision maker(s) in the family business. One hundred and forty-four next-generation family members completed our survey, but 21 participants were removed from the final sample because of their low engagement with the survey (i.e., little variance in their answers to 89% of questions), and one participant was removed because he or she was a Year 1 undergraduate student. The final sample for analysis, thus, consisted of 122 participants.
One key construct in our theoretical framework is perceived person-job fit. Although previous research has used student samples to study their fit perceptions and job choices (cf. Cable & Parsons, Reference Cable and Parsons2001; Ehrhart & Makransky, Reference Ehrhart and Makransky2007), we expect that people with work experience may know their needs and abilities fit better. Therefore, we also conducted Study 2, in which we surveyed next-generation family members who had a full-time job outside their family business when the survey was conducted – that is, they were running their own businesses or employed by another organization. To find these next-generation family members, we used snowball sampling. We began with suitable individuals in our personal networks and invited them to participate in our research. We also asked them to forward our survey link to their friends who were also next-generation family members meeting our screening criteria. Because information on parental behaviors is often considered confidential, locating participants in our personal network and through referrals may increase the response rate of our survey and the quality of our data. We adopted four criteria to select respondents for the sample in Study 2: (1) the respondent's parent(s) owned a business, (2) the respondent viewed the business as a family business, (3) the respondent's parent(s) was (were) the top decision maker(s) in the business, and (4) the respondent had a full-time job outside his or her family firm at the time of the survey. These four criteria led to 137 qualified respondents in our sample. We further removed four unengaged cases with unreliable answers. As a result, 133 cases remained in the final sample for analysis.
The student-next-generation sample has an average age of 23, 57% of them are male, and 51% of them have worked in their family businesses (most likely on a part-time or voluntary basis) for an average of eight months. In contrast, the working-next-generation sample has an average age of 26, 58% of them are male, 86% of them have worked in their family firms for an average of eight months, and their average full-time work experience outside their family business is four years.
Measures
Dependent variable
The dependent variable in this research is succession intention, which was measured by adapting Liñán and Chen's (Reference Liñán and Chen2009) six-item entrepreneurial intention scale to the family business context. Respondents were asked to rate items on a seven-point Likert scale, from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 7 (Strongly Agree). Sample items include ‘My professional goal is to become a successor in my parents’ firm’ and ‘I will make every effort to become a successor in my parents’ firm’. This scale is highly reliable (Cronbach α = 0.95 in Study 1 and 0.91 in Study 2).
Independent variable
Our independent variable is perceived parental care. Respondents were asked to rate their perceived parental care provided by the top decision maker of the family business during the first 16 years of their life. Because the outcome variable of interest is the next generation's likelihood of taking over the family business run by a parent (also the top decision maker of the firm), we expect the parental care offered by this parent to be highly relevant to their child's succession intentions. We, thus, asked respondents to rate parental care provided specifically by the top decision maker of the family firm. Furthermore, because we focus on the parental care displayed in the family domain, we followed the instruction of the care scale (Parker et al., Reference Parker, Tupling and Brown1979) and asked respondents to complete the measure for how they remembered their parents during the first 16 years of their life. Parental care was measured using six parental care items of Parker et al.'s (Reference Parker, Tupling and Brown1979) parental bonding scale. Sample items include ‘Enjoyed talking things over with me’ and ‘Could make me feel better when I was upset’. This scale shows good reliability (Cronbach α = 0.84 in Study 1 and 0.79 in Study 2).
Mediators
The mediators in this research are general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit. General self-efficacy was measured by Chen, Dong, and Zhou (Reference Chen, Gully and Eden2001) general self-efficacy scale on a seven-point Likert scale, from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 7 (Strongly Agree). Sample items were ‘I will be able to achieve most of the goals I have set for myself’ and ‘When facing difficult tasks, I am certain that I will accomplish them’. This scale is highly reliable (Cronbach α = 0.93 in Study 1 and 0.92 in Study 2).
Perceived person-job fit was measured using Saks and Ashforth's (Reference Saks and Ashforth1997) four-item, seven-point person-job fit scale, from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 7 (Strongly Agree). The items were adapted to the succession context. The four items used were: ‘To what extent do your skills, knowledge, and abilities match the requirements of succeeding your family business'?, ‘To what extent does succeeding your family business fulfill your needs'?, ‘To what extent is succeeding your family business a good match for you'?, and ‘To what extent does succeeding your family business enable you to do the kind of work you want to do'? One item on the original scale, ‘To what extent do your skills, knowledge, and abilities match the requirements of succeeding in your family business'? was dropped in the analysis for Study 1. It cross-loaded on two factors of the model (factor loadings being 0.44 and 0.46, respectively), and the factor loading was much lower than for the other three items, which were all above 0.74. Furthermore, the item asked about respondents’ perceived fit between their skills, knowledge, abilities, and the demands of the successor job. As only 51% of student participants had worked in their family businesses before, the other half of the sample may not have been able to answer this question well. Therefore, it was reasonable to drop this question for the student sample. The perceived person-job fit is highly reliable for both studies (Cronbach α = 0.89 in Study 1 and 0.88 in Study 2).
Control variables
We also controlled for gender, age, only-child status, and in-family-business experience of the next generation, and the size and age of the family business, as previously done in existing research on succession (Cabrera-Suárez et al., Reference Cabrera-Suárez, De Saá-Pérez and García-Almeida2001; Davis & Harveston, Reference Davis and Harveston1998; Sharma et al., Reference Sharma, Chrisman and Chua2003). Gender was a dummy variable that took a value of 1 if the respondent was male (0 otherwise). Age was calculated as the difference between the survey year and respondents’ year of birth. Only-child status was measured by asking respondents whether they were the only child in their family, with a value of 1 representing Yes (0 otherwise). In-family-business experience was measured by asking respondents whether they had worked in the family business before, either full-time or part-time; it took a value of 1 if the respondent answered Yes (0 otherwise). Firm size was measured by the number of full-time employees in the family business. Last, firm age was calculated as the difference between survey year and the year of establishment of the family business.
Common Method Variance and Multicollinearity Analyses
Before testing our hypotheses, we examined if our research suffered from common method bias. We adopted both procedure remedies and statistical remedies as suggested by Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee, and Podsakoff (Reference Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee and Podsakoff2003). Regarding procedure remedies, we used ‘counterbalancing question order’ and ‘protecting respondent anonymity’. Although we are interested in testing a theoretical framework in which the relationship between perceived parental care and succession intentions is sequentially mediated by general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit, we did not ask the questions of these four constructs in order. Instead, we asked questions in the following order: perceived parental care, succession intentions, perceived person-job fit, and general self-efficacy. We also separated these four scales using other questions so that respondents were unlikely to answer questions of some scales based on their answers to other scales. Furthermore, in the instructions for our questionnaire, we informed participants that their responses would be anonymous and their identities would not be revealed in any of our published or unpublished articles. Regarding statistical remedies, we assessed the common method variance (CMV) using the common latent factor (CLF) method for both studies because our data were from a single source. We compared the standardized regression weights of all items for models with and without CLF. The differences in the regression weights were found to be very small (p > 0.05 for Study 1 with the student-next-generation sample and p > 0.1 for Study 2 with the working-next-generation sample). Therefore, CMV is unlikely a major issue in the data for both studies.
We also inspected the variance inflation factor (VIF) scores in both studies and found no instances of multicollinearity among any of the variables. The largest VIF score is 1.12 in Study 1 and 1.21 in Study 2, which are well below the suggested threshold value of 10 (Hair, Black, Babin, & Anderson, Reference Hair, Black, Babin and Anderson2010).
RESULTS
Study 1: The Student-Next-Generation Sample
Table 1 reports the means, standard deviations, minimum and maximum values, and zero-order correlation coefficients for each of the variables. Perceived parental care is positively correlated with general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit, which have positive correlations with succession intentions.
Table 1. Descriptive statistics and correlations (Study 1: The student-next-generation sample)
Notes: N = 122. **p < 0.01; *p < 0.05.
Our hypotheses were tested using Hayes's PROCESS macro (version 3.3) Model 6, which is designed to analyze sequential mediation. We also used a bias-corrected bootstrap sampling method (with 2,000 bootstrap samples) to test the mediation effects.
Hypothesis 1 states that perceived parental care is positively related to next-generation family members’ succession intentions. Results in Model 1 of Table 2 show that the total effect of perceived parental care on succession intentions is statistically significant (β = 0.91, p < 0.001). Hypothesis 1 is thus supported.
Table 2. Regression models of parental care, general self-efficacy, perceived person-job fit, and succession intentions (Study 1: The student-next-generation sample)
Notes: N = 122. Standard errors are reported in parentheses. ***p < 0.001; **p < 0.01; *p < 0.05; †p < 0.1.
Care = Perceived parental care, GSE = General self-efficacy, PJ Fit = Perceived person-job fit, SI = Succession intentions.
Hypothesis 2 states that general self-efficacy mediates the relationship between perceived parental care and succession intentions. Our results of the indirect path (Care → GSE → SI) in Table 2 do not support this hypothesis (effect = −0.05; 95% confidence interval: [−0.22 to 0.05]). Because the 95% confidence interval contains zero (Preacher & Hayes, Reference Preacher and Hayes2008), the mediation effect is not significant at the 95% confidence interval level. Further examination of the results reveals that perceived parental care is positively related to general self-efficacy (Model 2 of Table 2: β = 0.61, p < 0.001). However, the relationship between general self-efficacy and succession intentions becomes insignificant (Model 4 of Table 2: β = −0.08, p > 0.1) when perceived person-job fit (i.e., the other mediator) is controlled for.
Hypothesis 3 states that perceived person-job fit mediates the relationship between perceived parental care and succession intentions. Our results of the indirect path (Care → PJ Fit → SI) in Table 2 do not support this hypothesis (effect = 0.37; 95% confidence interval: [−0.02 to 0.78]) as the mediation effect is not significant at the 95% confidence interval level (Preacher & Hayes, Reference Preacher and Hayes2008). Further examination reveals that perceived parental care has only a marginally significant relationship with perceived person-job fit (Model 3 of Table 2: β = 0.48, p = 0.049) and that perceived person-job fit is a positive and statistically significant predictor of succession intentions (Model 4 of Table 2: β = 0.78, p < 0.001) when general self-efficacy is controlled for.
Hypothesis 4 states that next-generation family members’ general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit will play a sequential-mediating role in the relationship between perceived parental care and next-generation family members’ succession intentions. Our result of the indirect path (Care → GSE → PJ Fit → SI) in Table 2 supports this hypothesis (effect = 0.24; 95% confidence interval is [0.05 to 0.52]). The sequential mediation effect is significant at the 95% confidence interval level because the interval range between lower and upper bounds does not contain zero. The regression results of Models 2–4 in Table 2 also show a significant relationship between perceived parental care and general self-efficacy (β = 0.61, p < 0.001), a significant relationship between general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit (β = 0.52, p < 0.001), and a significant relationship between perceived person-job fit and succession intentions (β = 0.78, p < 0.001).
Study 2: The Working-Next-Generation Sample
We repeated the same procedures to examine the four hypotheses using the working-next-generation sample. Table 3 reports the means, standard deviations, minimum and maximum values, and zero-order correlation coefficients for each of the variables. Perceived parental care is positively correlated with general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit, which have positive correlations with succession intentions.
Table 3. Descriptive statistics and correlations (Study 2: The working-next-generation sample)
Notes: N = 133. **p < 0.01; *p < 0.05.
Results in Model 1 of Table 4 show that the total effect of perceived parental care on succession intentions is significant (β = 0.60, p < 0.001). Hypothesis 1 is thus supported. In Table 4, the indirect effect of the path between perceived parental care, general self-efficacy, and succession intention (Care → GSE → SI) is 0.03, with a 95% confidence interval ranging between −0.06 and 0.18. Because the 95% confidence interval contains zero, we conclude that the mediation effect is insignificant. Hypothesis 2 is, thus, not supported. Further examination reveals that perceived parental care is positively related to general self-efficacy (Model 2 of Table 4: β = 0.49, p < 0.001), but the relationship between general self-efficacy and succession intentions becomes insignificant (Model 4 of Table 4: β = 0.07, p > 0.1) when perceived person-job fit (i.e., the other mediator) is controlled for.
Table 4. Regression models of parental care, general self-efficacy, perceived person-job fit, and succession intentions (Study 2: The working-next-generation sample)
Notes: N = 133. Standard errors are reported in parentheses. ***p < 0.001; **p < 0.01; *p < 0.05; †p < 0.1.
Care = Perceived parental care, GSE = General self-efficacy, PJ Fit = Perceived person-job fit, SI = Succession intentions
Moreover, the indirect effect of the mediating effect of the perceived person-job fit in the relationship between perceived parental care and succession intentions (Care → PJ Fit → SI) is 0.15, with a 95% confidence interval ranging between –0.07 and 0.37. Because the 95% confidence interval contains zero, we again conclude that this mediation effect is insignificant. Further examination reveals that the relationship between perceived parental care and perceived person-job fit is only marginally significant (Model 3 of Table 4: β = 0.24, p < 0.1), and that perceived person-job fit is a positive and significant predictor of succession intentions (Model 4 of Table 4: β = 0.60, p < 0.001) when general self-efficacy is controlled for.
Finally, the hypothesized sequential-mediating effect of general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit in the relationship between perceived parental care and succession intentions (Care → GSE → PJ Fit → SI in Table 4) is 0.14, with a 95% confidence interval ranging between 0.03 and 0.28. Since the confidence interval range does not contain zero, we conclude that the sequential mediation is significant at the 95% confidence interval level and supports Hypothesis 4. The regression results of Models 2–4 in Table 4 also show a significant relationship between perceived parental care and general self-efficacy (β = 0.49, p < 0.001), a significant relationship between general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit (β = 0.46, p < 0.001), and a significant relationship between perceived person-job fit and succession intentions (β = 0.60, p < 0.001). In summary, comparing Study 1 with Study 2, we can conclude that results from both studies consistently support Hypotheses 1 and 4, while rejecting Hypotheses 2 and 3.
Post Hoc Analysis
To further understand the nuance within our supported sequential mediation relationship from the surveys in Studies 1 and 2, we further conducted interviews with 21 Chinese next-generation family members. We categorized our interviewees into four groups. The first two groups are consistent with the two survey samples – namely, student-next-generation and working-next-generation. The other two groups are those who returned to work in their family business after working elsewhere and those who joined their family business immediately after graduation. We selected interviewees with diverse individual and family business backgrounds (summarized in Table 5) and found these interviewees through our personal networks and referrals. The diversity of interviewees enabled us to obtain rich theoretical insights into our study topic (Yin, Reference Yin2003).
Table 5. Summary of the background of interviewees and their family businesses (post hoc analysis)
The interview questions dealt with four topics: (1) the background of next-generation family members and their family businesses (details are reported in Table 5); (2) the next generation's attitudes toward taking over their family business and factors influencing their succession intentions; (3) the next generation's perceived parental behavior and recalled experience with their parents in their early life, living arrangement, and whether and how those experiences influenced them as a person and their succession intentions; and (4) the next generation's confidence level in facing hypothetical scenarios (e.g., difficulties in study) in order to capture their general self-efficacy.
All interviews were conducted face-to-face and audio-recorded with the participants’ permission and transcribed verbatim. Each interview lasted between one and two hours. Before the interview, the participant was assured of the confidentiality of the data and anonymity so that the participant could feel free to talk. Interviews began with an open question – ‘Please tell us about yourself and your family business’ – intended to make the participant feel comfortable (McCracken, Reference McCracken1988). During the interview, we used probing techniques to motivate interviewees to tell more about their experiences, feelings, and attitudes, especially when asking them to recall experiences in childhood. We transcribed each interview immediately after finishing it.
We first analyzed the data of each interview to identify key concepts of perceived parental care, general self-efficacy, perceived person-job fit, and succession intention, as well as the underlying relationships among these four concepts. We then compared these concepts and relationships across individuals to identify similarities, differences, and patterns among the next-generation family members (Miles & Huberman, Reference Miles and Huberman1994). The interview data not only supported our conceptual model but also suggested new insights into how and when perceived parental care influences the next generation's succession intentions. We summarize our key findings as follows. Further details are available from the authors upon request.
First, five interviewees who had already decided to take over their family business – or had high intentions to do so – reported that they perceived warmth, care, and support from their parents during childhood and adolescence (Interviewees E, F, I, L, and M). Their comments included: ‘We had dinner together every day. After dinner, my father would discuss fancy topics such as international news with me. We then would sit together, reading newspapers. So these are my childhood memories, all with my father, making me feel really good. I had a very good relationship with my father when I was young’ (Interviewee E); ‘As a family member, my mother is a warm person because she cares about me very much, and I also feel that she loves me’ (Interviewee L).
In contrast, five interviewees who showed low intentions to take over their family businesses reported perceiving little parental care during childhood (Interviewees G, N, O, R, and S). They said they would rather start their own businesses (independently from their family firm), and three of them had already done so. As Interviewee R said, ‘My father was a tough kind of guy, talked little, and did not show his emotions (at least not that I saw). … He was barely at home anyway. My childhood memories rarely involve my parents. They were busy at work … So, since I was young, I very much wanted to have a regular and normal family life, like my classmates did. I was also starved for love from my parents, which I did not get’. Interviewee G commented, ‘I don't feel supported by them. They just want to control me, making me feel like I'm in prison. When I was young, they told me to do things and would punish me if I did not follow their orders. They did not praise me at all. Instead, they often ridiculed me. I don't want to get involved in their things. I just want to do my own things’.
Many of our interviewees commented that Chinese parents (especially Chinese fathers) are not good at expressing emotions to their children. Parental care is manifested in various ways in our interview data. Interviewees reported perceiving care through such things as having frequent conversations with their parents on interesting topics, playing with them, hugging them, experiencing warm feelings and feelings of closeness to them, and feeling cared for, supported, and loved.
Second, five interviewees who perceived a low person-job fit, especially the demands-abilities fit, expressed low succession intentions (Interviewees A, C, P, S, and T). For example, Interviewee C commented, ‘I don't think I will help my parents [with their business] mainly because I don't have knowledge of the business. It is quite different from what I learned in my major. Instead, I would want to start my own business’. Interviewee P said, ‘I don't think the [job] fit is high, perhaps only 30%. First, I don't know about the industry or the job itself. It requires you to be able to read a sketch, make a quote, know the technology, be able to solve problems if there are any. I don't know any of these, and I don't know the materials in the products, either. My past work experience is in a totally different industry, which does not match with the current industry. … Furthermore, the job is not something that I really want. It requires me to go to work every day, from Monday to Sunday, but I really want to have at least one day off every week’.
In contrast, four interviewees who perceived a relatively high fit with the successor role showed strong succession intentions (Interviewees E, F, M, and U). Three of them were already working in the family business and performing well. They felt that they had (at least some) knowledge of the family firm, that they were able to deal with (at least some) business issues in the firm, and that being a successor was a good match for them. Furthermore, two other interviewees showed high succession intentions but mentioned that they still needed to learn more about the family business (e.g., about the technology and factory management) and improve their management abilities (Interviewees I and L). As they stated, ‘To be honest, I am not good at managing a factory, and I don't know much about the technology. It might be difficult to be a leader, and I need to learn’ (Interviewee I); ‘I am sensitive to things related to food. I am interested in it, and I feel I have a good fit with this type of business. I also feel that it is easy for me to deal with business issues related to this industry, but I don't think I am good enough. For example, I need to manage many things in the company, which is different from what I thought. It is not just about importing food. I know I can do it and I have confidence in doing it. It's just the practice is still different from what I learned from books’ (Interviewee L). This finding suggests the challenging areas for potential successors.
Third, our interview data also showed that next-generation family members who perceived more parental care when they were young tended to have higher general self-efficacy, that is, higher confidence in doing tasks such as studying and dealing with new challenges, higher willingness to explore a new environment, or higher adaptability in a new environment (Interviewees B, C, E, L, and Q). Their comments included: ‘My father likes to take me out [to different events]. Perhaps because I have seen a lot, I am not afraid [of doing things]. I have been an excellent girl since I was young. Whenever I do things, others would recognize me. So I am not afraid of going into a new environment. I can adapt really fast’ (Interviewee E); ‘The best thing that I got from my father is a strong curiosity about things. My father often wanted to compete with me, and after many years, I found that I am much better than other people of my age. My father has been teaching me the logic behind many things and how these things work. I benefit a lot from these things.… So I have been very confident in myself and I have done many business activities since I was in middle school. I am very confident in my business sense’ (Interviewee Q).
In contrast, those who received less parental care during childhood show not only reduced general self-efficacy, but also other developmental problems, such as loneliness and sensitivity to others’ emotions. For example, Interviewees R and J commented: ‘I was not confident of who I was and what I did. I had no one to share with. I could only bury my own sadness, and I even questioned my existence in this world. I envied my friends and their families, and I felt depressed about my own situation. I dreamed of a warm family, someone who would respond to my feelings’; ‘During that time I had to force myself to change some habits and to get along with other people. I was afraid and not confident’ (Interviewee J). Interviewee S also mentioned, ‘I often felt lonely when I was young because I was in boarding schools all the time and changed from one school to another frequently [because my parents’ business changed locations]. It was difficult to become engaged in a place, and I had to force myself to maintain good relationships with my classmates. Now I am very sensitive to other people's emotions and comments. I can quickly tell other people's changes in emotions’.
Fourth, in terms of the relationship between general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit, findings vary for different interviewees. Some interviewees with strong general self-efficacy reported higher perceived person-job fit (Interviewees E, F, L, M, and U). Specifically, some of these interviewees already worked in the family business and expressed that they were able to do tasks related to the successor role. For example, Interviewee U commented that he was competent in sales and liked his family business, though he needed to learn a bit more about jobs in the factory. Interviewee F mentioned that her father had always been supportive and trusted her. She worked hard and was a capable person. Her father empowered her at work and delegated tasks to her. At the time of the interview, she was in control of the hotel business of her family firm as well as finance for the entire business group and managed everything very well. There was a clear fit between her abilities and the job requirements.
In contrast, two interviewees showed relatively low general self-efficacy due to the low level of parental care they received during childhood (Interviewees D and P). They also perceived low fit with the successor role. According to Interviewee D, ‘Sometimes I have confidence and sometimes I have doubt. I often hesitate to do things, thinking too much. I worry what if I cannot do a good job and what if I fail … . I barely see any fit with the successor role, as I don't know much about the technology, my major does not fit, and I am not confident dealing with the complicated relationships among family members in the business’. Interviewee P commented, ‘I don't think I am able to take over the family business, especially if it does not perform quite well, perhaps because I am not confident in doing many things’.
Other interviewees reported a lower perceived fit with the successor role, though their general self-efficacy was not low and they had a close relationship with their father/mother (who is the top decision maker of the family business) (Interviewees A, B, C, Q, S, and T). As quoted, ‘My perceived fit with the successor role is perhaps only 40%, very low. It's probably because I am not interested in the job. Big machine, big factory, bad working environment, and I don't know how to communicate with the workers. I don't understand the business model, either. … but I am confident in myself. I just want to explore something that fits well with my abilities and my personality’ (Interviewee S); ‘I have worked [as a helping hand] in my family business, and I was responsible for managing the site. I had some bad experiences related to the working environment and people as well. So, I don't think the job fits me’ (Interviewee T); ‘I don't want to take over my father's company because I think it requires professional knowledge. For example, if you want to sell the product, you need to know some data; if you do after-sales service, you need to know how to fix the products; if someone calls you and asks you to solve a problem, you have to be able to do it. This is very professional knowledge, which I don't have’ (Interviewee C); and ‘If I had to join the family business and take it over, I think I would do better than my friends. But one thing that concerns me is that I don't have any work experience. What I have learned is only from books. I haven't practiced at all, so it might be difficult to really manage a firm. My father and I also talked about it. Currently my family business and its industry are experiencing bottlenecks. I don't think the knowledge I have learned can solve them. I have also talked to some government officials in our city, and I feel that there is limited industry growth potential. So, it is not worth it [to take over the family business]’ (Interviewee B). The above findings suggest potential boundary conditions between general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit – for instance, interest in the family business, level of knowledge of the business, and expected growth potential of the business and the industry.
Fifth, even though some interviewees showed low succession intentions, the majority (except for interviewees O and R, who had extremely poor relationships with their parents) expressed that they would be willing to join the family business or even take it over if asked by their parents despite their level of interest in the business. This finding reflects the next generation's filial piety for their parents. One reason for this finding might be the next generation's love for their parents, as expressed by some of the interviewees: ‘I have strong feelings for our family business, and this feeling comes from my parents. Over these many years, I have seen they worked really hard in the business, to give my brother and me a better future. They devoted a lot of effort to the business. They give meaning to our business’ (Interviewee B); ‘I love my father. If my father asked me, I would definitely go back [to join the family business] because he is my father and family is important to me’ (Interviewee C).
Another reason is related to the next generation's felt responsibility or emotions for the family business, as is shown some of the quotes: ‘In addition to responsibility for my parents, I would also feel sorry if the business was closed down because I didn't take it over. This would be a loss [because the business still performs well]’ (Interviewee J); ‘I am working toward becoming the successor for my family firm, though I have not explicitly told my father [my intention]. I identify with my father's success so far. After all, it exists for a reason. If my father is wrong, the business would not have survived until today. I also feel responsible for the business, perhaps because of my emotional attachment to my parents’ (Interviewee U). ‘I am actually very proud of our family business. Even if I worked outside [the business], I would just do my best. If I could not do the job well, I could come back and work in my family firm. So I would feel a loss if the business had to be closed down because I did not take it over’ (Interviewee P).
The final reason is the trigger of a critical event. Even though some interviewees perceived low levels of parental care when they were young, they experienced some critical events that led them to understand their parents and therefore did not mind going into the family business if asked by their parents. For instance, Interviewee K started his own business before joining his family business. He told us that his entrepreneurial experience made him understand how difficult starting and running a business is and how difficult it is to make money. Because he understood the challenges and difficulties that his father had gone through, he wanted to take over the family business to help him.
Finally, our interview data also show interesting findings specific to the Chinese context, such as living arrangements. Many interviewees reported that their parents spent more time working on the business than being with them at home. As a result, they were frequently cared for by their grandparents, hired caregivers, a boarding kindergarten/school, or even themselves. Their parents had limited time to offer them emotional care. This limited time spent with parents, however, did not seem to prevent the perception of caring parents so long as there were happy memories during the limited time that led the next generation to feel care and support from their parents. Some interviewees also commented that a specific event in their early life may have given them the feeling that their parents were very caring. Things like a family meeting to discuss the child's career plan, a long conversation about past successes and difficulties that the parent experienced in his or her entrepreneurial journey and why he or she behaved in a certain way as a parent helped children to better understand their parents (e.g., their thoughts, past behavior, and plans for the next generation). Even though these children reported that their parents spent little time with them when they were young, they still evaluated their perceived parental care at a higher level and described their parents positively due to their understanding of their parents through these triggering events. It is this perceived care (or lack of care) that influences the next generation (e.g., their psychological needs, personality development, and confidence in completing tasks) the most. In contrast, as our interviewees reported, grandparents or other caregivers seemed to take care of their physical needs and had little influence on their psychological development. Three interviewees, however, said that they would have been happier and less lonely if their parents had spent more time with them when they were young. Nonetheless, our general conclusion is that the quality of time that parents spend with their children matters much more than the quantity of time.
DISCUSSION
The family business succession literature has long suggested that a good parent–child relationship in the early years can be beneficial for family business succession (Brockhaus, Reference Brockhaus2004; Goldberg, Reference Goldberg1996; Miller et al., Reference Miller, Steier and Le Breton-Miller2003). Recently, scholars began to explore effective parental behaviors that may facilitate succession and advocated for some business-domain-specific behaviors, such as authoritative parenting styles that satisfy the next generation's psychological needs within the family business (McMullen & Warnick, Reference McMullen and Warnick2015) and parental support for involving the next generation in the family business (Garcia et al., Reference Garcia, Sharma, De Massis, Wright and Scholes2019). Parker (Reference Parker2016) points out that it is challenging for parents to raise their children in a way that supports their development in general and to effectively nurture and support the development of appropriate motivations to align the children's interests with the family business in particular. Addressing his point, the present research examines how a specific family-domain parental behavior (i.e., perceived parental care) influences next-generation family members’ succession intentions. We conducted two survey studies on a student-next-generation sample and a working-next-generation sample, and post hoc interviews with diverse next-generation family members. The results consistently support that perceived parental care increases next-generation family members’ succession intentions through a relatively stable global evaluation of self (i.e., general self-efficacy) and a business-domain-specific factor (i.e., perceived person-job fit). Theoretical and practical implications of our findings to the family business literature and Chinese context are discussed below.
Theoretical Implications
First, adding to the existing theoretical frameworks on how business-domain-specific parental behaviors affect family business succession (Garcia et al., Reference Garcia, Sharma, De Massis, Wright and Scholes2019; McMullen & Warnick, Reference McMullen and Warnick2015; Miller et al., Reference Miller, Steier and Le Breton-Miller2003), the present research introduces an alternative framework to the family business literature by examining the influence of family-domain parental care (i.e., the love and warmth dimension of parental behaviors) that next-generation family members perceived in their first 16 years of life on their succession intentions. Our findings from the two surveys indicate that perceived parental care in the early years does increase succession intentions of the next generation. Two possible explanations emerge from our interview data. First, next-generation family members raised by caring and warm parents expect that they will get the same support from their parents when working in the family business. Therefore, the family business is seen as a safe and appealing work environment, and the next generation will likely develop a favorable attitude toward working in the family business. This is consistent with the argument of attachment theory that children with a secure attachment relationship with their parents are willing and confident in exploring a new environment (Aspelmeier & Kerns, Reference Aspelmeier and Kerns2003; Bowlby, Reference Bowlby1988). Second, next-generation family members raised by caring parents love their parents and therefore view taking over the family business as a way of helping their beloved parents. Their succession intentions, thus, are high. This finding may also reflect the next generation's filial piety for their parents, which will be detailed when discussing our contribution to research in the Chinese context.
Moreover, we unfold the underlying mechanisms for how perceived parental care in the early years influences succession intentions. Different from what is predicted in Hypotheses 2 and 3, we found that general self-efficacy or perceived person-job fit by itself does not mediate the relationship between perceived parental care and succession intentions. Our explanations are as follows. Regarding the unsupported mediating role of general self-efficacy in Hypothesis 2, although perceived high parental care increases the next generation's general self-efficacy, high general self-efficacy may not necessarily result in strong succession intentions. It may also motivate next-generation family members to start their own business (Zellweger, Sieger, & Halter, Reference Zellweger, Sieger and Halter2011) if high general self-efficacy promotes individuals’ mastery (Sherer et al., Reference Sherer, Maddux, Mercandante, Prentice-Dunn, Jacobs and Rogers1982) and self-efficacy (Grether et al., Reference Grether, Sowislo and Wiese2018) in the entrepreneurship domain. This is especially likely to happen when the industry, location, or business model of their family business does not fit with the next generation's personal interests, when a less prosperous future of the family business is perceived, or when the next generation's performance is influenced not only by their own ability but also by uncontrollable external factors, such as the attitudes and behavior of other family members (Zellweger et al., Reference Zellweger, Sieger and Halter2011). This explanation can be supported by our interview findings. For instance, Interviewee Q perceived relatively high parental care, was confident in performing many different tasks in his childhood, and considered himself capable of doing business activities and having excellent business sense. Because he was not interested in the business model of his family business and also perceived the industry to be declining, he started his own company instead of succeeding into his family business. Similarly, Interviewees B and T also perceived high parental care and were confident in performing various tasks in childhood and adolescence. They, however, also showed low succession intentions because of low interest in the industry or the poor work environment of their family businesses. As a result, one planned to further his education and the other chose to work in an organization outside the family firm.
Regarding the unsupported mediating role of person-job fit in Hypothesis 3, our results show a marginally or close to a marginally significant link between perceived parental care and perceived person-job fit. This finding suggests that our expected high parental support at work due to perceived high parental care at home is not sufficient to enable the next generation to develop a good fit with the successor job. One reason can be related to the content of person-job fit as we elaborated in Hypothesis 3. The concept of person-job fit consists of two aspects: the perceived fit between what the job can offer and one's interest and needs (i.e., needs-supplies fit) and the perceived fit between job demands and one's knowledge and abilities (i.e., demands-abilities fit) (Cable & Judge, Reference Cable and Judge1996; Kristof-Brown, Reference Kristof-Brown2000; Saks & Ashforth, Reference Saks and Ashforth1997). Although having a warm and caring incumbent parent may satisfy the next generation's relational needs at work, it is unlikely to be sufficient for them to develop a good demands-abilities fit with the successor job. Performing the successor role requires strong family-business-domain-specific knowledge and abilities, such as knowledge about the family business, industry and market insights, and abilities to make decisions independently and to well manage business and family relationships (Barach & Ganitsky, Reference Barach and Ganitsky1995; Dyck et al., Reference Dyck, Mauws, Starke and Mischke2002; Mazzola et al., Reference Mazzola, Marchisio and Astrachan2008). Perception of one's domain-specific knowledge and abilities is not a natural outcome of perceived strong parental care but needs to be developed over time by working in the family business or by other experiences that enable the next generation to believe that they can learn the knowledge and abilities necessary for managing a family business. The importance of family-domain-specific knowledge and abilities for next-generation family members and their decisions also emerged from our interview results. Among next-generation family members perceiving a warm relationship with their parents, those who worked in their family businesses for a relatively long time (e.g., Interviewees E and F) and performed well demonstrated strong confidence in their ability to succeed the family firm and perceived a high fit with the successor role. In contrast, some next-generation family members with little work experience in the family business (e.g., Interviewees C and T) still had concerns about their domain-specific abilities and did not perceive a high fit with the successor role.
Furthermore, we found that general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit play a sequential-mediating role as predicted in Hypothesis 4. Consistent with attachment theory, this finding illustrates that perceived parental care can influence the next generation's succession intentions through mechanisms in both the family domain and the business domain. Perceived strong parental care promotes a feeling of security and an approach orientation in the next generation, motivating them to confidently explore their environment and be willing to face challenges and actively solve problems. They thus can perform successfully across various situations, and these successes accumulate to help form a positive global sense of self (e.g., strong general self-efficacy) (Watt & Martin, Reference Watt and Martin1994). The strong general self-efficacy then enables the next generation to develop positive outcome expectations for a career in the family business and more importantly, a perception of being able to develop family-business-domain-specific knowledge and abilities. As a result, the next generation may perceive high fit with the successor role and their succession intentions can be enhanced. The above explanation is also supported by our interview results. For instance, Interviewees E, F, and M all showed high intentions to succeed in their family business and perceived warmth and care from their parents during childhood and adolescence. Meanwhile, they also reported strong general self-efficacy and high perceived person-job fit. Therefore, different from the business-domain-specific mechanisms (i.e., family business self-efficacy and commitment) proposed in Garcia et al.'s (Reference Garcia, Sharma, De Massis, Wright and Scholes2019) theoretical framework, our findings highlight general self-efficacy as a novel non-business-related mechanism for understanding the relationship between parental behaviors and the next generation's engagement in the family business. We further stress that general self-efficacy by itself is not sufficient for perceived parental care to affect succession intentions. The perception of a good fit with the successor job is also necessary. Together, they play a sequential-mediating role in the relationship between perceived parental care and the next generation's succession intentions.
Second, our research enriches the knowledge of family business succession in the Chinese context. Parental care is an important type of parental behavior, and its positive impact on child development has been well documented in the existing literature in the Western context (Cheng & Furnham, Reference Cheng and Furnham2004; Hauck, Schestatsky, Terra, Kruel, & Helena Freitas Ceitlin, Reference Hauck, Schestatsky, Terra, Kruel and Helena Freitas Ceitlin2007; Parish & McCluskey, Reference Parish and McCluskey1992). Our research shows that perceived parental care is also highly relevant to Chinese parents and can positively affect the succession intentions of Chinese next-generation family members. Therefore, it is highly likely that the patterns of within-culture relationships between perceived parental care and family business succession are similar to those observed in Western societies. The cross-cultural differences may lie in other factors, such as parents’ varying ways of expressing warmth and care. Indeed, earlier studies of Chinese parenting styles show that the patterns of the within-culture relations between parenting styles, behaviors, and child development are similar to what is theorized in the Western context (e.g., Chen, Dong, & Zhou, Reference Chen, Dong and Zhou1997; Sek-yum Ngai & Cheung, Reference Sek-yum Ngai and Cheung2009). We thus call for future research to examine our conceptual model in Western contexts and do a cross-cultural comparison.
Our interview data also revealed another China-specific factor influencing Chinese family business succession: filial piety (xiao in Chinese). Our interview data show that next-generation family members who were not interested in joining their family firm but who perceived some care and support from their parents were willing to take over their family firm if asked by their parents. This finding suggests that the next generation's filial piety for their parents plays a key role in their decisions. Our research also offers empirical evidence for prior research theorizing filial piety as an important aspect of the parent–child relationship that influences family business succession (Yan & Sorenson, Reference Yan and Sorenson2006).
Filial piety is a Confucian value displayed by high levels of devotion, including affection, respect, duty, and obedience (Hsu, Reference Hsu, Slote and DeVos1998; Li, Reference Li1997; Tu, Reference Tu, Slote and DeVos1998). It requires subordinating self-interest for the good of the relationship (in our article, it is the parent–child relationship). But this submission should be based on a reciprocal relationship between the parent and the child. Parents treat their children with kindness and care (ci in Chinese) when they are young, and in return, children exhibit filial piety throughout the lives of their parents (Yan & Sorenson, Reference Yan and Sorenson2006). This is well supported by our interview data. We observed that filial piety was more easily developed in next-generation family members who perceived high warmth, care, and support from their parents than those who perceived less of them in childhood and adolescence. The former type of next-generation family members appreciated their parents’ efforts in raising them and wanted to help their parents whenever they could by subordinating their personal interests. Moreover, these next-generation family members showed high motivation in developing family-business-related knowledge, skills, and abilities if they decided to join the family business and reported high identification with their father or mother (as the incumbent business owner) or family business continuity. In contrast, next-generation family members who perceived little parental care showed little willingness and interest in joining the family firm and helping their parents. They showed no feelings of ownership and no identification with the family firm. Therefore, perceived parental care can lay a good foundation for the next generation to develop filial piety. Given that we did not measure filial piety or identification in our survey, we call for future empirical research to examine the various impacts of filial piety on succession.
Third, we draw on attachment theory to theorize the relationships in our proposed conceptual framework. By so doing, we introduce this theory to a specific career context, that is, the family business succession context. We further empirically verify that attachment theory is an appropriate theoretical lens studying the influence of the parent–child relationship on family business succession. Moreover, the new insights from our post hoc interview data suggest that the next generation's interest in and knowledge of the family firm and expected firm and industry growth potential can be potential boundary conditions for the perceived parental care–succession intentions relationship. That is, a secure parent–child relationship does not always lead the next generation to explore their family firm as a career. The power of the secure parent–child relationship is also contingent on contextual factors specifically related to the family business and the child's personal interest that could be shaped significantly by their experience and the environment in adolescence and early adulthood. Therefore, it is important for future research to consider these potential boundary conditions when applying attachment theory to explain family business succession. Indeed, the next generation's personal interest in the family business and the performance of the family business have been suggested (De Massis et al., Reference De Massis, Chua and Chrisman2008; Handler, Reference Handler1992; Le Breton-Miller, Miller, & Steier, Reference Le Breton-Miller, Miller and Steier2004; Sharma et al., Reference Sharma, Chrisman, Pablo and Chua2001; Stavrou, Reference Stavrou1998) as important factors influencing succession.[Footnote 3] Our research adds additional evidence to this stream of literature as well.
Practical Implications
Our research has two practical implications. First, it has implications for the incumbent owners and (would-be) successors of the family business. Our research has reinforced family business researchers’ advocacy that the succession process should begin early, even during the childhood of next-generation family members. Incumbent owners who plan to hand the family business over to their children should attend to their parental behaviors and display care and emotional warmth toward their children. Such care may lead the next generation to care about or show filial piety to the incumbent parents and motivate them to join the family firm and take it over. It can also enhance children's self-efficacy beliefs and perceived fit with the successor job, and this fit perception can, in turn, increase the next generation's succession intentions. This is particularly important for Chinese family business incumbents. Many incumbents wrongly view succession as business transfer and therefore devote significant amounts of time and effort to build their family firm to pass the wealth onto the next generation. They strive to provide as much instrumental support as possible – for example, buying the best things for them and sending them to Western schools or universities – while perhaps neglecting to develop caring relationships with the next generation. But our research shows that next-generation family members’ perceived parental care is critical for their succession intentions. Our finding on the positive effect of perceived parental care is also important for male Chinese parents, who often are not good at expressing love to their children. Even though incumbent parents are busy and cannot spend much time with their children, they should strive to improve the quality of the limited time spent with their children to ensure that they give them happy memories. Similarly, (would-be) successors should also know that emotional care and warmth are important to succession. If they want their own children to take over the family business and to ensure the business's transgenerational longevity, they should treat them with care and love. Therefore, parents should show affection to the next generation, which is largely missing in the Chinese or Eastern culture or social norms compared with the Western culture.
Second, our article has implications for communities and governments in general. Given the important contribution of family businesses to regional and national economic development, the transgenerational survival and success of family businesses should be facilitated. To achieve this, communities and governments could offer incumbent owners and (potential) successors training programs on effective parental behaviors and efficient working methods so that the incumbents can interact more with their children when they are young. The goal is to help them to be aware of and to practice appropriate parental behaviors, to make effective succession plans, and to improve next-generation family members’ willingness to take over the family business. Governments can also consider changes to the existing educational system so that parents (including the incumbents of Chinese family firms) may be able to offer work/volunteer opportunities in the family firm for their children as school projects. This approach not only enables the two generations to spend more quality time with each other, strengthening their emotional bonds, but also involves the next generation in the family business and increases their knowledge of and identification with the family business.
Limitations and Future Research Directions
Our research has a few limitations that open avenues for future research. First, all hypothesized relationships were investigated in cross-sectional surveys, which prevent us from making any inferences about the direction of our effects. Although we expect perceived parental care to influence general self-efficacy first and then perceived person-job fit based on existing psychology research showing general self-efficacy as an antecedent of domain-specific self-efficacy (Betz & Klein, Reference Betz and Klein1996; Grether et al., Reference Grether, Sowislo and Wiese2018; Luszczynska et al., Reference Luszczynska, Scholz and Schwarzer2005; Song & Chon, Reference Song and Chon2012), this expected relationship cannot be validated in a cross-sectional survey. Furthermore, although our measure of perceived parental care asked about participants’ perceived parental care in the first 16 years of their lives, their answers may also reflect participants’ perception at the time of the survey. Future research could use a longitudinal design, asking questions about the key constructs in our model in different waves of data collection. Such a design could not only address the retrospective issue of the parental care measure but also infer the direction of the effects.
Another opportunity for future research is to use a time horizon to examine the relationship between parental care and succession intentions at different points of time – for example, upon graduation, to determine the effects of this relationship on the next generation's immediate succession intentions, and five years after university graduation, to determine its effects on their prolonged succession intentions. Although our research design and data did not allow us to conduct this comparison directly, our data did show that the working-next-generation's succession intentions were significantly higher than those of the student-next-generation. One potential reason could be that the maturity of the working-next-generation gained from experience working in a job environment outside their own family firms not only made them more likely to understand certain behaviors of their parents, resulting in a high level of perceived parental care, but also strengthened their general self-efficacy, resulting in high levels of perceived person-job fit. Additional tests comparing the differences in perceived parental care, general self-efficacy, and perceived person-job fit between the two samples support our viewpoint. Future research can examine whether parental care may differentially influence the next generation's succession intentions at different time points using one sample and other factors that may moderate this relationship.
Second, the samples in our Study 1 and Study 2 are next-generation family members who have not worked full-time in their family businesses. Therefore, it is unclear if their succession intentions and the factors influencing them would show a different pattern from that could be observed from those who already join their family firms. Future research, thus, can include in the sample next-generation family members who already work full-time in the family business to capture their succession intentions.
Third, we did not consider the influence of alternative opportunities that next-generation family members might have, but this factor can potentially influence their succession intentions (Griffeth, Allen, & Barrett, Reference Griffeth, Allen and Barrett2006). Our post hoc interview data actually show counterintuitive findings about alternative opportunities. On the one hand, some next-generation family members chose to join the family business despite their low interest in the business and outside alternative opportunities that matched better with their competence and interests because (1) the salary they would have earned outside would not have been comparable to that they could earn in the family business as a potential successor, (2) they loved their parents and wanted to help them, and/or (3) they felt responsible for the family business. On the other hand, some next-generation family members failed to perform well in alternative opportunities outside the family business and chose to join the family business because they were able to hold a managerial position (because of their next-generation status) that otherwise might have been beyond their abilities. These findings suggest that the market value emphasized in traditional labor economics may not be applicable to the prediction of whether alternative opportunities can influence the next generation's succession intentions. In the succession context, other factors (e.g., socioemotional wealth) may be more influential. Future research investigating alternative opportunities for next-generation family members, thus, should carefully consider characteristics specifically related to the family business.
Fourth, although attachment theory offers a good explanation for our sequential-mediating model, our post hoc interview data also suggest some boundary conditions for this model, such as personal interest, expected firm growth potential (a measure of firm performance), and expected industry growth potential. It may be expected that the positive relationship between general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit becomes weaker when the next generation's interest in the family business is low or when expected firm or industry growth is low. Therefore, future research can empirically test the boundary conditions for our conceptual model so that attachment theory may be extended. Moreover, we used attachment theory to theorize our proposed relationships instead of measuring and testing the effects of different attachment styles on family business succession. In addition to the secure attachment style used in our argument, there are also other attachment styles (e.g., avoidance and anxiety styles) (Bartholomew & Horowitz, Reference Bartholomew and Horowitz1991; Hazan & Shaver, Reference Hazan and Shaver1987; Mikulincer & Shaver, Reference Mikulincer and Shaver2005) that have been shown to influence individuals’ functioning at work (e.g., affective experience and organizational commitment) (Geller & Bamberger, Reference Geller and Bamberger2009; Little, Nelson, Wallace, & Johnson, Reference Little, Nelson, Wallace and Johnson2011; Richards & Schat, Reference Richards and Schat2011). Indeed, successors of family firms can also be categorized into different types, including not only confident ones but also conservative/dependent or rebellious ones (Miller et al., Reference Miller, Steier and Le Breton-Miller2003). These different characteristics demonstrated in adulthood may be the result of parent–child attachment styles formed in childhood or adolescence, and different successors will demonstrate different strategies and behaviors that may well influence the succession process (Miller et al., Reference Miller, Steier and Le Breton-Miller2003). Therefore, future research can further test the influence of different attachment styles on the next generation's succession intentions and engagement.
CONCLUSION
Parents are children's closest and earliest social contacts and have been found to exert significant influence on children's career development. In addition to business-domain-specific parental behavior, the present study suggests that family-domain-specific parental behavior – that is, perceived parental care – enhances general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit, which, in turn, positively predicts succession intentions. In the family business context, the business and the family are inextricably intertwined (Olson et al., Reference Olson, Zuiker, Danes, Stafford, Heck and Duncan2003; Tagiuri & Davis, Reference Tagiuri and Davis1996). The present study, thus, opens the avenue toward a more holistic view of the theorized relationship between parental behaviors and family business succession.
