Research on the cultivation of female successors in family enterprises

Abstract

Along with social environment changing and family business developing rapidly, as well as females themselves having management predominance, more and more females start to participate in business management. Because of their feminine sex characteristics and multiple roles, the feminine clan members face a series of predicaments and conflicts in their yearn to inherit a family business. Based on such a background, the author offers a tentative study on the cultivation of female successors in the family enterprise. This thesis comprehensively presents the basic theories in the areas of the family business and researches on the females aspiring to be leadership heirs. The paper lays a foundation for further discussion by presenting the definition of the family business and reviewing previous studies on female successors. The study also presents the dilemmas of females, such as sex discrimination; sex-role conflict; psychological conflict. Then from sociocultural, biological and psychological scopes, the paper analyses reasons why females are in a dilemma. This study also provides the prerequisites to help the female member in the family business get rid of the difficulties on their journey to become leadership heirs. The paper additionally proposes some countermeasures to conquer the obstacles faced by female successors. First, female successors should exert sex predominance, which integrates business characteristics to form her unique management. The second ideology and culture of the female in society should be updated. The society should create equality in the cultural atmosphere for women and men so as to realize that all genders take on the responsibility equally and create a good social environment for female members of the family business. Thirdly, female successors should improve their abilities. They can work from the grassroots level. They should learn to build their authority in the enterprise. Finally, this paper displays the management predominance and dilemma of female members in the Chinese family business by the analysis of Wantong Group's daughter inheriting his father's business case. Based on it, the paper gives the corresponding enlightenments which can help a family firm feminine member improve. The researcher hopes that through such an analysis, the paper could offer some implications and enlightenment for the cultivation of female successors. The researcher also expected that it could elicit more studies in this field.