Succession in horticultural family businesses: The role of socialization and communication

Succession is a persistent topic in recent family business research and garners attention from a wide range of research areas. Strategic and principal-agent approaches discuss the subject from an organizational point of view; gender research takes a sociological viewpoint. The present study assesses the perspectives of those involved in the succession process through a qualitative research approach. Based on in-depth interviews conducted in German horticultural businesses, a comparative analysis serves as the starting point for an inquiry of internal succession processes. With transferability limited to similar cases, results show a range of important factors, affecting the generation-spanning succession process.