Putting the success into succession - A qualitative study of the factors behind a successful succession in a Swedish family business

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to deepen the understanding of how family businesses can succeed in the process of succession by illustrating a successful succession within a family business in Sweden. In order to reach the paper’s purpose, a qualitative study was conducted in the form of semi-structured interviews. The study has adopted a social constructionist and interpretive approach. The study is based on previous research of family business which is followed by theoretical framework of succession within family businesses. The empirical material consists of interviews with the founder, the successor, one of the successor’s brothers, an external board member of Green Investments as well as a CEO with one of Green Investments’ subsidiaries. Green Investments is a family business based in Sweden and possesses about twenty subsidiaries and associate companies which operate in a wide range of fields. We develop a managerial guideline consisting of seven factors for a successful succession in a family business and add a supplementary factor, sibling satisfaction, which has previously been overlooked.