Title: Planning for succession in family businesses: a comparison of Arab/Islamic and US practices

Authors: Matthew C. Sonfield; Robert N. Lussier; Josiane Fahed-Sreih

Addresses: Zarb School of Business, Hofstra University, New York, USA ' Springfield College, 263 Alden Street, Springfield, MA, 01109, USA ' Lebanese American University, P.O. Box 13-5053, Chouran, Beirut 1102 2801, Lebanon

Abstract: This article compares a sample of US family businesses with a sample of Arab/Islamic family businesses from Egypt, Kuwait and Lebanon, with regard to the degree to which top management has formulated specific plans for the future succession of junior family members into top management positions (total N = 485). ANCOVA analysis indicates that the Arab/Islamic family businesses' top managers engage in the formulation of such succession plans to a statistically significant greater degree than do the US managers. The two dissimilar cultural contexts are examined, which offer reasons for this research finding, and implications are presented for future research.

Keywords: family business; Arab countries; Islamic family firms; USA; United States; entrepreneurship; succession planning; Egypt; Kuwait; Lebanon; top management; cultural contexts; culture.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2015.071902

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2015 Vol.15 No.3, pp.313 - 330

Received: 09 Feb 2015
Accepted: 19 Mar 2015

Published online: 23 Sep 2015 *

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