No heir apparent? Exploring the workers' co-operative model as a solution to the continuity of family businesses
| dc.contributor.author | Murphy, Linda | |
| dc.contributor.author | McCarthy, Olive | |
| dc.contributor.author | Carroll, Bridget | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2018-02-19T11:52:35Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2018-02-19T11:52:35Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2017-12 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2018-02-19T11:44:32Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | Family businesses, with no apparent heir, face the risk of discontinuity. While a number of family businesses rely heavily on non-family employees, the role of non-family employees in the continuity of family businesses is under-researched. The workers’ co-operative model offers one way to address this gap as it represents a model whereby non-family employees gain a stake in ownership whilst the family remains involved. In practice, conversion to ensure continuity is actively promoted in a number of countries. In this paper, the authors explore the role of the workers’ co-operative model as one possible solution to succession difficulties facing family firms. Based on the reported experiences in a number of countries, we identify the motivations behind conversion, the barriers faced and the benefits accruing. We find that, in theory, the worker co-operative model merits the attention of family business scholars as a means of securing continuity and survival of family business. We explore the factors that appear to aid or hinder successful conversions in practice and we make recommendations to policy-makers surrounding the supports required to encourage and facilitate successful conversion. | en |
| dc.description.status | Peer reviewed | en |
| dc.description.version | Published Version | en |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | en |
| dc.identifier.citation | Murphy, L., McCarthy, O. and Carroll, B. (2017) 'No heir apparent? Exploring the workers' co-operative model as a solution to the continuity of family businesses', Journal of Entrepreneurial and Organizational Diversity, 6 (2), pp. 20-39. doi: 10.5947/jeod.2017.008 | en |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.5947/jeod.2017.008 | |
| dc.identifier.endpage | 39 | en |
| dc.identifier.issn | 2281-8642 | |
| dc.identifier.issued | 2 | en |
| dc.identifier.journaltitle | Journal of Entrepreneurial and Organizational Diversity | en |
| dc.identifier.startpage | 20 | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10468/5477 | |
| dc.identifier.volume | 6 | en |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises | en |
| dc.relation.uri | http://www.euricse.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/03-Murphy_VF.pdf | |
| dc.rights | © 2017 The Authors; EURICSE | en |
| dc.rights.uri | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ | en |
| dc.subject | Workers co-operative | en |
| dc.subject | Family business | en |
| dc.subject | Business succession | en |
| dc.subject | Conversion | en |
| dc.subject | Continuity | en |
| dc.subject | Succession | en |
| dc.title | No heir apparent? Exploring the workers' co-operative model as a solution to the continuity of family businesses | en |
| dc.type | Article (peer-reviewed) | en |
