What is Family-Owned Business

The aim of this chapter is to highlight the peculiarities of the succession in family-owned businesses and to discuss the main difficulties encountered by second and third-generation entrepreneurs during the succession process. By the use of direct interviews, the authors collected information about the specific role played by the multiplicity of stakeholders involved, first of all the HR function and the relationship with non family employees. The case studies analysed consider family firms that are managing their succession process. Two generations coexist in two cases with family members belonging to different branches of the same family. Non-family managers and employees represents a fundamental stakeholder that influence the success and sustainability of the succession process. One aim of the chapter is to analyse how the HR practices have changed during the succession process considering how the successors entered and integrated with non-family managers and employees according to the management for stakeholders approach.