The Role of Advisors and The Sequence of Their Actions in Sibling Team Succession

Abstract

Succession is one of the most-studied topics in family firm research. However, research into succession to more than one child remains scarce despite the practice being common. Based on six case studies of successions in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) showing strong growth, our exploratory research identifies the advisors involved in sibling team successions; it then investigates the impact of family and non-family advisors on succession to siblings. Our findings show that the advisors work at three levels: business, family and individual. We propose a new categorization of advisors and pinpoint the timing of their actions. Our results bring to light the importance of the hidden advisors who are, for the most part, the most trusted.