Restructuring the family firm at succession: Aligning structure, motivations, and beliefs
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: As they reach the point of succession, owners of family firms face difficult choices, including a confusing array of options for restructuring their firms in preparation for a full or partial exit. This complexity can lead owners to make restructuring decisions they may come to regret. Drawing from research on the motivations of family business owners and insights from corporate finance scholarship on ownership of family firms, we generate a framework for guiding those decisions. First, we map the many restructuring options available to exiting owners along three overarching dimensions of ownership: (1) financial ownership, (2) board-level control, and (3) involvement in executive management. Then, we posit how three different motivations—financial, socioemotional, and prosocial/altruistic—can and should influence restructuring choices along those three dimensions. Finally, we show how these choices are moderated by owners’ beliefs about the business and about its key stakeholders. For both researchers and business owners, this framework offers a way to compare different potential corporate restructuring choices given owners’ multiple motivations at the point of transition.
Source: Business Horizons
Authors: Peter Boumgarden, Mark C. Hand
Language: English
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,410
OpenAlex ID: W4415950781