Shadow of the Prince: Parent-incumbents’ Coercive Control over Child-successors in Family Organizations

Huang, X; Chen, L; Xu, E; Lu, F; Tam, KC

Shadow of the Prince: Parent-incumbents’ Coercive Control over Child-successors in Family Organizations

Huang, X Chen, L Xu, E Lu, F Tam, KC

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Publisher:: SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Administrative Science Quarterly, 2020, 65, (3), pp. 710-750
Issue Date:: 2020-09-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Huang, X
dc.contributor.author	Chen, L
dc.contributor.author	Xu, E
dc.contributor.author	Lu, F
dc.contributor.author	Tam, KC
dc.date.accessioned	2021-03-30T04:44:34Z
dc.date.available	2021-03-30T04:44:34Z
dc.date.issued	2020-09-01
dc.identifier.citation	Administrative Science Quarterly, 2020, 65, (3), pp. 710-750
dc.identifier.issn	0001-8392
dc.identifier.issn	1930-3815
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/147662
dc.description.abstract	© The Author(s) 2019. During family firm succession, parent-incumbents are often caught up in a paradox of both empowering and dominating their child-successors. To understand this recurring phenomenon, we draw from socioemotional wealth literature and a philosophical account of the power-transfer paradox in ancient patriarchal monarchies to hypothesize that parent-incumbents tend to exert generational coercive control when their child-successors are seen as very unwilling and incapable or very willing and capable of taking over patriarchal family organizations. We test our hypotheses in three studies. In Study 1, we coded data from succession cases in Chinese patriarchal monarchies (403 BC to 959 AD) and found support for the predicted non-linear effects of successor-princes’ willingness (63 cases) and capability (80 cases) on their father-kings’ coercive control (persecuting or murdering the princes). In Study 2, based on survey data from parent–child dyads of 157 family firms in Taiwan and mainland China, again, we found U-shaped effects of child-successors’ willingness and capability on parent-incumbents’ coercive control (restraining successors’ power). Moreover, parent-incumbents’ highly narcissistic personality attenuated these U-shaped relationships because they tend to devalue their child-successors’ willingness and capability. In Study 3, we conducted a survey of 103 parent–child dyads in family firms in mainland China and found a U-shaped relationship between capability and coercive control only when incumbents’ roles in the family and at work were highly intertwined.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
dc.relation.ispartof	Administrative Science Quarterly
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1177/0001839219870449
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject	1503 Business and Management, 1505 Marketing
dc.subject.classification	Business & Management
dc.title	Shadow of the Prince: Parent-incumbents’ Coercive Control over Child-successors in Family Organizations
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	65
utslib.for	1503 Business and Management
utslib.for	1505 Marketing
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
dc.date.updated	2021-03-30T04:44:33Z
pubs.issue	3
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	65
utslib.citation.issue	3

Abstract:

© The Author(s) 2019. During family firm succession, parent-incumbents are often caught up in a paradox of both empowering and dominating their child-successors. To understand this recurring phenomenon, we draw from socioemotional wealth literature and a philosophical account of the power-transfer paradox in ancient patriarchal monarchies to hypothesize that parent-incumbents tend to exert generational coercive control when their child-successors are seen as very unwilling and incapable or very willing and capable of taking over patriarchal family organizations. We test our hypotheses in three studies. In Study 1, we coded data from succession cases in Chinese patriarchal monarchies (403 BC to 959 AD) and found support for the predicted non-linear effects of successor-princes’ willingness (63 cases) and capability (80 cases) on their father-kings’ coercive control (persecuting or murdering the princes). In Study 2, based on survey data from parent–child dyads of 157 family firms in Taiwan and mainland China, again, we found U-shaped effects of child-successors’ willingness and capability on parent-incumbents’ coercive control (restraining successors’ power). Moreover, parent-incumbents’ highly narcissistic personality attenuated these U-shaped relationships because they tend to devalue their child-successors’ willingness and capability. In Study 3, we conducted a survey of 103 parent–child dyads in family firms in mainland China and found a U-shaped relationship between capability and coercive control only when incumbents’ roles in the family and at work were highly intertwined.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/147662