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Owner-manager when death do us part - roles of a widow in sudden succession in family firms
Jönköping University, Jönköping International Business School, JIBS, Centre for Family Entrepreneurship and Ownership (CeFEO). Department of Management and Engineering, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8012-2635
Department of Management and Engineering, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden; Department of Marketing and Strategy, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden.
2023 (English)In: Journal of Family Business Management, ISSN 2043-6238, E-ISSN 2043-6246, Vol. 13, no 2, p. 432-452Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Purpose

This study sheds light on a hitherto understudied group in family business literature: widows. We explore the roles a widow may take following the unexpected death of her owner-manager spouse when she had no salient role in the business prior to the death.

Design/methodology/approach

We used a qualitative approach to research, to study inductively the roles considered and taken by three widows who unexpectedly succeeded as owners of Swedish privately held family firms. We conducted semi-structured interviews with widows and children in top management.

Findings

We construct a typology of four main roles a widow can take and analyse the underlying dimensions that they represent. We also analyse to which extent the choice of role widow can be explained by psychological ownership and double-loss theory. The typology can be used as a tool for family business owners and their advisors as the basis of an open and non-prejudiced discussion of the choices available to a widow.

Originality/value

We have investigated the factors that influence a widow's decision whether to take over the business or not, as suggested in previous research by, for example, Martinez et al. (2009). We explore the roles a widow can consider and adopt. The study advances our understanding of how businesses can remain as family firms also in the event of the unexpected death of an owner-manager (De Massis et al., 2008). We hereby contribute to the literature on sudden successions and on women in family businesses.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2023. Vol. 13, no 2, p. 432-452
Keywords [en]
Family dynamics, Widow, Sudden succession, Sudden death, Psychological ownership, Double-loss theory
National Category
Business Administration
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-52676DOI: 10.1108/JFBM-01-2021-0006ISI: 000649034200001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85106209674Local ID: HOA;;745513OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hj-52676DiVA, id: diva2:1559987
Funder
Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg FoundationThe Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius FoundationTore Browaldhs stiftelseAvailable from: 2021-06-03 Created: 2021-06-03 Last updated: 2023-05-30Bibliographically approved

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Almlöf, Hanna

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