Does female descendent entrepreneur's self-compassion and financial literacy matter for succession success?

Abstract

Purpose

Present study investigated the influence of female descendent entrepreneur's self-compassion on the perceived succession success of small-family businesses (S-FB) with the mediating mechanism of financial literacy.

Design/methodology/approach

The primary data was collected from 319 female descendent entrepreneurs who were designated as chairwomen, and managing director positions in their retails sector S-FBs. The purposive sampling technique was used to collect the data. The provided hypotheses are tested using the partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique. This study followed multiple regression analyses to see the influence of self-compassion (mindfulness, self-isolation, self-judgment and over-identification) on financial literacy and perceived succession success.

Findings

The results reveal that female descendent entrepreneurs mindfulness and over-identification significantly increase but self-isolation decreases the likelihood of successful succession transition. Moreover, female descendent entrepreneur's financial literacy increases mindfulness and overidentification while it decreases self-isolation and improves the likelihood of succession success. However, financial literacy does not influence self-judgmental traits and perceived succession success.

Practical implications

This study highlights a vital issue, how the financial literacy of female descendent entrepreneurs manages their self-compassion and increases the likelihood of succession success. In addition, it covers a research gap and helps the S-FBs to improve their survival rate by focusing on the descendent entrepreneur's self-compassion and financial literacy.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the body of knowledge by emphasizing predictors that influence the successful succession transition to subsequent generations. This study determines the influence of self-compassion of female descendent entrepreneurs on perceived succession success and financial literacy as a mediator by using the self-control theory. The study can be useful to family business consultants, policymakers and family businesses.

Citation

Ahmad, Z., Sharif, S., Ahmad, I., Abbas, S.M.W. and Shaheen, M. (2023), "Does female descendent entrepreneur's self-compassion and financial literacy matter for succession success?", Journal of Family Business Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFBM-07-2023-0102