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Like Father Like Son: How Perceived Parental Mentoring Strategies Shape Successors' Entrepreneurial Identity in Chinese Family Businesses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2025

Ganlin Mia Li Open the ORCID record for Ganlin Mia Li [Opens in a new window] ,
Bingbing Ge Open the ORCID record for Bingbing Ge [Opens in a new window]  and
Junsheng Dou Open the ORCID record for Junsheng Dou [Opens in a new window]
Ganlin Mia Li
Affiliation:
Zhejiang University, China
Bingbing Ge
Affiliation:
Lancaster University, UK
Junsheng Dou*
Affiliation:
Zhejiang University, China
*
Corresponding author: Junsheng Dou ([email protected])
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Abstract

Parental mentoring plays a pivotal role in fostering intrafamily succession and entrepreneurial endeavors. Taking an identity-based perspective, we conducted an exploratory multiple case study involving nine Chinese family firms to investigate how successors perceive the influence of mentoring from their entrepreneurial parents on the development of their entrepreneurial identities. Our findings reveal that successors' entrepreneurial identity changes from ambiguous to clarified through four perceived parental mentoring strategies, namely laying foundations, painting bright futures, relating experiences, and leading by examples. In particular, we show how the unique Chinese family dynamics resulted in some paradoxical tensions influencing the successors' entrepreneurial identity. By taking a holistic view, we conceptualize parental mentoring as a crucial nurturing strategy for successors and connect it to the process of successor identity transformation. This research sheds light on the nexus of entrepreneurial identity, family dynamics, and the Chinese cultural context within the realm of family business research and practice.

摘要

摘要

在家族企业的传承与创业活动中，父母的指导扮演着至关重要的角色。本研究从身份构建的角度出发，通过对九家中国家族企业进行深入的多案例探索性研究，分析了接班人如何感知企业家父母给予的指导对其企业家身份形成的影响。研究结果表明，在接班人的企业家身份从模糊到明确的转变过程中，他们感知到四种父母指导策略起到了决定性作用：一是铺路搭桥，为接班人打下坚实的基础；二是描绘愿景，为接班人指明发展的方向；三是连接历史，让接班人从家族经验中汲取智慧；四是以身作则，为接班人树立角色榜样。值得关注的是，研究还揭示了在中国文化特有的背景下，家族内部的动态如何为接班人的企业家身份塑造带来独特的矛盾和张力。本文将企业家父母的指导策略视为培养接班人的关键方式，并将其与接班人身份的转变紧密联系起来，强调了跨代创业在接班人企业家身份构建中的核心地位。总体而言，本研究揭示了家族企业领域中企业家身份、家族动态以及中国文化情境之间的内在联系。

Keywords

Chinese cultural contextentrepreneurial identityfamily businessfamily dynamicsintrafamily successionparental mentoring家族企业企业家身份父母指导家族内部传承中国文化情境家庭动态
Type
Article
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Management and Organization Review , First View , pp. 1 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of International Association for Chinese Management Research

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