Intergenerational Succession (Generational Change) = Strategic Renewal? The Emergence of Familiness in the Business Life of Dudits Hotels

Abstract

According to Lea (1998) one definition of a family business says that the family business is a venture which is undertaken for family needs; it builds on the family's abilities; it is a family hand and mind work; it is guided by ethical and spiritual values of the family; it is characterized by a family’s long-term commitment, and the succession of family business depends on the heritage of the children as the value of family name. According to these criteria and the quantifiable conditions of family businesses the authors regard the Dudits Hotels Ltd as a typical family business and the authors show this hotel’s case as a case study. As a theoretical starting point they referred to the system theory and resource-based approaches of a family business, to the literature milestones of familiness and to the domestic and international empirical preceding topics of family businesses succession. Based on this theoretical background, this study analyses the manifestations of the unique resources coming from the family involvement, so-called familiness, and the effects on management, organizational and controlling functions and the corporate strategy of the intergenerational succession (generational change) presenting it and taking it under the microscope with the help of the active West Pannonian second-generation family company. During the research the used case study method allows two approaches (both the qualitative and the quantitative point of view), and the result opens the door to make a complex, using good and bad practices, emphasizing a success and failure holistic evaluation on the family business succession. It gives a starting point of the quantitative research which will focus on the domestic medium-sized enterprises.