Succession and sustainability in wood-working and furniture family businesses in Slovakia

Abstract

Generational change or succession is a critical point in the life cycle of every family business from the point of view of the sustainability of the company. It is therefore necessary for family businesses to be sufficiently prepared for this change and not to underestimate it. The main purpose of the research is to map the issues of the succession process and to identify the significant factor threatening the generation change in wood-working and furniture family businesses in Slovakia which are crucial for their sustainability. To obtain relevant results, the study surveyed 460 family enterprises operating in wood-working and furniture industry. To meet the stated goal, the methodological tool of the research was a questionnaire survey. The established hypotheses were tested using the following statistical methods: Binomial test and Interval Estimate. From the achieved results obtained through the evaluation of the questionnaire survey, it was concluded that the majority of family businesses in Slovakia operating in the woodworking and furniture sector have not yet dealt with the succession process. The main factor influencing the planning of this process is the age of the founder of the company. The majority of family businesses have a succession plan and do not consider selling the business to a strategic investor in the absence of a suitable successor. Based on the results of the research, recommendations were formulated for theory, science and practice which have potential to improve the quality of succession and thus also the sustainability of these enterprises of the enterprise.