ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSION IN CHOSEN POLISH FAMILY BUSINESSES

Abstract

Family business makes up 36 percent of the SME sector in Poland. These companies have a significant impact on GDP and the national employment structure. To find the proper business strategy which can give them a competitive edge on the globalized market it is necessary to point out the specifics of their activities. Succession planning is an important process for the development of family businesses. This article is an attempt to answer the question of whether the Polish family companies plan the succession process, and if so, how this progresses. Are their activities consistent with the theory in this area, or perhaps they are based on intuition of the respective owners?

This article is divided into three parts. The first part includes a discussion on the nature of the succession process. The second part presents models of power transfer developed by practitioners and theorists as well as things guaranteeing the achievement of the purposes of succession. The third part of the article analyses a collection of interviews with successors and doyens in selected family companies about the progress in the planning and execution of their inheritance process