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1 – 10 of 319Samuel Ssekajja Mayanja, Reuben David Kizito, Henry Mutebi and Regis Kamadduka Zombeire
The study empirically explores the influence of re-organization on entrepreneurial intentions and family business generational transfers among small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Abstract
Purpose
The study empirically explores the influence of re-organization on entrepreneurial intentions and family business generational transfers among small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Design/methodology/approach
Using multi-group analysis and partial least square structural equation models, data from 252 family-owned businesses were analyzed.
Findings
The results reveal that re-organization partially mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial intentions and family business generational transfers among SMEs.
Research limitations/implications
The study used a cross-sectional survey approach and focused on Kampala business district. If required and funding permits, a longitudinal study in this field may be conducted.
Practical implications
Family business owners ought to involve their family members in the management of the business from an early age, including them in the decision-making process, and use social exchange to strike a balance between their personal goals and the objectives of the business. In order to protect the business's goals, the business founder should mentor the next generation through quality family social interactions.
Originality/value
Integrating entrepreneurial intentions and re-organization is likely to improve the survival rate of family business generational transfers among SMEs in Uganda using social exchange theory.
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Cara-Lynn Scheuer, Catherine Loughlin, Dianne Ford and Dennis Edwards
Successful knowledge transfer (KT) between younger and older workers (YW and OW, respectively) is critical for organizational success, especially in light of the recent surge in…
Abstract
Purpose
Successful knowledge transfer (KT) between younger and older workers (YW and OW, respectively) is critical for organizational success, especially in light of the recent surge in employment volatility among the youngest and oldest segments of the workforce. Yet, practitioners and scholars alike continue to struggle with knowing how best to facilitate these exchanges. The qualitative study offers insight into this phenomenon by exploring how KT unfolds in YW/OW dyads.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors performed a reflexive thematic analysis of semistructured interviews with two samples of blue- and white-collar younger/older workers from the USA (N = 40), whereby the authors interpreted the “lived experiences” of these workers when engaged in interdependent tasks.
Findings
The analysis, informed by social exchange theory and exchange theories of aging, led to the development of the knowledge transfer process model in younger/older worker dyads (KT-YOD). The model illustrates that, through different combinations of competence and humility, KT success is experienced either directly (by workers weighing the perceived benefits versus costs of KT) and/or indirectly (through different bases of trust/distrust perceived within their dyads). Further, humility in dyads appears to be necessary for KT success, while competence was insufficient for realizing KT success, independently.
Originality/value
In exposing new inner workings of the KT process in YW/OW dyads, the study introduces the importance of humility and brings scholars and organizations a step closer toward realizing the benefits of age diversity in their workplaces.
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Xinjia Yu, Chunyan Miao, Cyril Leung and Charles Thomas Salmon
The parent-child relationship is important to the solidarity of families and the emotional well-being of family members. Since people are more dependent on their close social…
Abstract
Purpose
The parent-child relationship is important to the solidarity of families and the emotional well-being of family members. Since people are more dependent on their close social relationships as they age, understanding the quality of relationships between aged parents and their adult children is a critical topic. Previous research shows that this relationship is complicated with both kinship and ambivalence. However, there is little research on the causes of this complexity. This paper proposes a role model to explain this complexity by studying the leadership transition within a family as the child grows.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, we proposed a novel perception to understand this transition process and explain related problems based on the analysis of the leader-follower relationship between the parents and their children.
Findings
When a child is born, his/her parents become the leader of this family because of their abilities, responsibilities and the requirements of the infant. This leader-follower role structure will last a long time in this family. Decades later, when the parents become old and the child grows up, the inter-generational contracts within the family and the requirement of each members change. This transition weakens the foundation of the traditional leader-follower role structure within the family. If either the parent or the child does not want to accept their new roles, both of them will suffer and struggle in this relationship. This role conflict will cause ambivalence in the relationship between aged parents and their adult children.
Originality/value
Based on the quantitative study model provided in this paper, we can moderate the relationships between aged parents and their adult children. This effort is meaningful in enhancing the quality of life and emotional wellbeing for senior citizens.
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Anita Zehrer and Gabriela Leiß
The purpose of this paper is to explore leadership succession in families in business. Although there is a vast amount of research on leadership succession, no attempt has been…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore leadership succession in families in business. Although there is a vast amount of research on leadership succession, no attempt has been made to understand this phenomenon by using an intergenerational learning approach. By applying the Double ABC–X model, the authors discuss how resilience is developed through intergenerational learning during family leadership succession in business.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a single case, the authors define pre- and post-event parameters of the business family under study and use the Double ABC–X Model as an analytical framework. Individual and pair interviews, as well as a family firm workshop, were undertaken following an action research approach using multiple interventions. The qualitative data were collected by reflective journals, field notes and observation protocols. Finally, the authors analyze the data according to a circular deconstruction strategy.
Findings
The authors find specific pre-event stressor parameters related to mutual mistrust, independent decision making and non-strategic transmission of power, knowledge and responsibility from predecessor to successor. The intervention based on the intergenerational approach during the post-crisis phase focuses on problem solving and coping within the new situation of co-habitation among the two generations. The intergenerational learning approach based on pile-up of demands, adaptive resources and perception is the source of family adaptation. Additionally, the power of the narrative to reflect past events and project the future seems to the point where the family starts developing resilience.
Originality/value
The way family businesses deal with critical and stressful events during leadership succession may lead to intergenerational learning, which is a source of resilient families. The authors apply the Double ABC–X model to understand family leadership succession in business and further develop it to explain how families develop resilience.
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Matthew Kaplan, Elizabeth Larkin and Alan Hatton-Yeo
Intergenerational programs and practices refer to a wide range of initiatives which aim to bring people of different generations together to interact, educate, support, and…
Abstract
Intergenerational programs and practices refer to a wide range of initiatives which aim to bring people of different generations together to interact, educate, support, and provide care for one another. Insofar as there is such rapid growth in intergenerational program activity taking place at the national and international levels, it is pertinent to wonder how we can cultivate innovative, effective leaders in a variety of professional roles and settings. This article explores various conceptions about how to prepare and inspire intergenerational professionals. Beyond focusing on the set of skills and knowledge that practitioners need to function effectively, we argue that there are certain personal dispositions that are integral to leadership in this field. To illustrate how passion, what the authors call the p-factor, contributes to exemplary intergenerational practice, several examples are provided of intergenerational professionals who emanate this quality. Implications for preparing future intergenerational leaders are considered.
Although the Chinese nation is undergoing rapid modernisation and urbanisation, there remains widespread interest in some traditional familial arrangements and practices…
Abstract
Purpose
Although the Chinese nation is undergoing rapid modernisation and urbanisation, there remains widespread interest in some traditional familial arrangements and practices, particularly in the intergenerational context. This paper discusses the family relations of urban middle-aged citizens in present-day China.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employed the grounded theory method to investigate family relations among middle-aged citizens in urban China based on data obtained via semi-structured interviews with 34 participants. A grounded theory coding strategy was used for data analysis.
Findings
The analysis revealed evidence of a transformation towards downward solidarity, with decreasing intergenerational co-residency; that is, the traditional norm of adult children providing support to their older parents is rapidly losing popularity. However, middle-aged and older citizens continue to support their adult children by helping them purchase real estate and assisting with childcare activities.
Practical implications
The findings suggest the existence of intergenerational inequality. Policymakers should acknowledge this phenomenon and provide the younger generation with enough support to improve the wellbeing of the country's middle-aged and older population.
Originality/value
The transformation towards downward solidarity implies a new intergenerational relationship in contemporary China, in which many young people rely on financial and functional support from their older parents. Meanwhile, traditional norms continue to exist despite greater downward solidarity among the younger generation. In other words, old and new norms simultaneously exist.
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Anita Zehrer and Gabriela Leiß
This paper aims to explore the pertinent issues, barriers and pitfalls of intergenerational communication in business families during their leadership succession period.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the pertinent issues, barriers and pitfalls of intergenerational communication in business families during their leadership succession period.
Design/methodology/approach
Building on relational leadership theory, the paper makes use of an action research approach using a qualitative single case study to investigate communication barriers and pitfalls in business transition.
Findings
Through action research, interventions were taken in the underlying case, which increased the consciousness, as well as the personal and social competencies of the business family. Thus, business families stuck in ambivalent entanglement understand their underlying motives and needs within the change process, get into closer contact with their emotional barriers and communication hindrances, which is a prerequisite for any change, and break the succession iceberg phenomenon.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should undertake multiple case studies to validate and/or modify the qualitative methods used in this action research to increase the validity and generalizability of the findings.
Practical implications
Given the large number of business families in transition, our study shows the beneficial effects action research might have on business families’ communication behavior along a change process. The findings might help other business families to understand the value of action research for such underlying challenges and decrease communication barriers.
Originality/value
This is one of the few studies to have addressed intergenerational communication of business families using an action research approach.
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Approaching mentoring from the theoretical tradition of continental pedagogy and contrasting it to the neoliberal organization of the academy, this paper aims to analyze how the…
Abstract
Purpose
Approaching mentoring from the theoretical tradition of continental pedagogy and contrasting it to the neoliberal organization of the academy, this paper aims to analyze how the Croatian higher education document framework constructs mentoring graduate and postgraduate students' research projects.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis of 50 national- and university-level documents, which were coded using an adapted strategy described by Saldaña (2014), was guided by the following research questions. 1. Which elements of the mentor’s activity in guiding the research projects of graduate and postgraduate students are addressed by the relevant Croatian higher education documents? 2. Which elements of the graduate and postgraduate students’ activity in conducting research projects are addressed? 3. Which structural dimensions of mentoring these research projects are addressed?
Findings
The results point to the construction of mentoring as a pedagogical relationship based on guidance, support and dialog and also signal the processes of quantification of education and responsibilization of individuals.
Practical implications
The results can be used in the critical revision of the documents as well as in supporting mentors in their professional roles.
Originality/value
This is the first analysis of the Croatian higher education document framework focused on mentoring students’ research projects.
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Doris Bühler-Niederberger, Xiaorong Gu, Jessica Schwittek and Elena Kim
In this introduction to our volume on growing up in Asian societies, we define the claim of this collection, explain the approach, and take stock of what it has been possible to…
Abstract
In this introduction to our volume on growing up in Asian societies, we define the claim of this collection, explain the approach, and take stock of what it has been possible to achieve empirically and conceptually for the further global study of childhood and youth. Our aim was to understand and present the young generation in its intergenerational relations. The 16 studies, divided into four regional sections, show a broad spectrum of very different conditions in which this young generation lives, of expectations with which they are confronted, and of strategies for action that are open to them. And they show the overriding importance of the commitments and solidarities between different age groups across societies. We propose – in the sense of a theoretical conclusion – three concepts that should be central to the study of childhood and youth experiences: (inter)generational order, existential inequality, and voice. Whereby, the latter concept also has to take into account walls of silence. The three concepts have extended prior work of childhood and youth studies with new analytical power and empirical relevance, based on this most comprehensive collection to date on growing up in Asian societies.
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