Succession process in Colombian familyowned SMBs: multiple case study

Abstract

The succession process has become one of the main challenges to be resolved in family businesses, to extend the business legacy of the founder (owner) over time. Therefore, this research aims to identify the main components involved in the succession process in micro, small and medium family’s enterprises in Colombia. The multiple case study methodology was used in a sample of 33 companies, and the multivariate Principal Component Analysis technique was used to select from a set of variables those that best define the succession process. The findings show that there are eight (8) main components that explain 90.1% of the variance, and for each component the most correlated variables are the ones that best describe the succession process. Among the main conclusions, they highlight that the transfer of capital, of knowledge between the owner - successor, the years of experience of the successor, planning and monitoring, are key components for an adequate succession process.