Family Firm Intergenerational Succession And Organizational Change

Family firms' intergenerational succession have great meaning for their long-term development. Most of Chinese family firms was founded in the early time of reform and opening. So far, the founders began stepping to the age of retirement. The trend of intergenerational succession, which is lighted by second generation succession of family firms, has become an important focus in our society. As Chinese economic development is slowing down and the development mode is transforming, with the increasingly severe market environment, the development pressure of internal and external prompts Chinese family firm change regarding the intergenerational succession as an opportunity.Throughout the existing literature about intergenerational succession of family firms, most of them discuss how to slow the impact of succession and improve performance, rarely discuss about succession as an opportunity to promote development; the existing literature about Organizational change, most of them discusses the organizational change process, rarely discuss how organizational change begin. The connection between Family business succession and the organizational change are discussed rarely. This paper will start from the above three points, based on the system logic theory, demonstrate how family firm to begin organizational change through the intergenerational succession and obtain the further development.This paper invite 18 companies' executives in Tanbu town Huadu district of Guangzhou as interview object to understand their firms' intergenerational succession condition, senior managers' own cognitive change, organizational change situation by face-to-face depth interviews. Then we carries on the qualitative research on the basis of the interview data, preliminary build the model which describing intergenerational succession cause organizational change. Then through the data coding procedures and so on, conducting questionnaire and distributing on large-scale, we made quantitative analysis.This paper quote executive change cognize as the direct reflection of institutional logic, partial mediated the intergenerational succession and organizational change. Intergenerational change lead to the change of senior management team, the change of senior management team lead to the corresponding change of cognize which reflects contrary power between change logic and traditional logic, influence on organizational change. At the same time, the strength of market pressure, will moderate the relationship between intergenerational succession and organizational change, the relationship between intergenerational succession and cognitive change, the relationship between cognize and organizational change, demonstrating the market environment influence the system of intergenerational succession and the organizational change.Research conclusion: family firms' intergenerational succession and its organizational change was significantly positive correlation; Family firms intergenerational succession can effectively change the family firms' change cognize, making them more inclined to change, then effectively promoting change. Change cognize mediate the correlation of intergenerational succession and organizational change; Market pressure will produce negative adjustment to the whole process, weakening the motivation of change, reduce the possibility of change.