CEO Succession in Family Firm: An Integrated Framework and Future Research Insights

Abstract

The aim of the study is to empirically analyse the literature on CEO succession in family firms published in the last two decades. The analysis is conducted through bibliometric citation analysis using a sample of 325 studies. The researchers employ content analysis and citation mapping of 46 highly cited research articles to identify four main themes of discussion: Contextual, Conceptual, Configurational, and Procedural. Additionally, the study presents a multi-level conceptualisation that synthesises existing literature to establish a connection between drivers and outcomes of the CEO succession process in the family firm. Finally, the researchers provide future research directions and implications.