Family Business Enterprises Successor Choice Research Based-on The Lifecycle Theory

As one of the corporation organizational form, Family business enterprises had been extensive existing all over the world. And they made major contribution to the world economic development. But according to the statistics, in the United States, about 30% family business enterprises could successfully transfer to the next generation, and 12% could transfer to the third generation, only 3% family business enterprises could succeed to the fourth generation. Family business enterprise succession had already become an important problem that affects the family business enterprises subsistence and development. No exception in our country. The Chinese family business enterprises that accompany with the reform grow up, experienced more than 20 years' hard work and also face the succession problem. How to choose the appropriate enterprise successor scientifically had become an important problem that had perplexed all family business enterprises' development. Therefore, this paper analyzed part of family business enterprises in Zhejiang province, and researched deeply in the family business succession in different lifecycle stage. We tried to find out the main factor that affect the family business succession, and gave some evidence and reference to the successor choice.At first, this paper based on summaries the relevant research, and then advanced the primary succession proposition which about successor choice in different lifecycle phase, and adopt the method of the questionnaireresearch to validate the conceptive of the research. Through the empirical studies, we found out the following conclusions:(1) Though there were many factors influenced the family business enterprise successor choice, including many internal factors and the exterior factors, this paper found six main factors: the basic circumstance of the family business enterprise and the circumstance of the management level, the professional manager and the influence to the succession, the family cultural factor of influence, the demand from founder to the successor, the influences from the family culture, the influence abilities from the board of directors, the lifecycle phase in the family business enterprise development.(2) The business enterprises developed in the different stages would produce the different result to the choice of the successor: ?At the beginning of the family business enterprise development phase, the family business enterprise choose the insider successor more suitable than the outsider. ?After the business enterprise development enter normalization period, though the identification in choose the insider was still in high level, but obviously that the professional manger was more suitable. (3)At the mature period of the family business development, the outsider professional manager were still more suitable for succession. (4)At the decline period of the family business development or transmute the period, the insider successor might enhance the confidence of the enterprise. So, the insider succession was more suitable.These all researched result may have the important guide meaning to the family business successor choice.