TY - JOUR
T1 - Incubating the next generation to venture
T2 - The case of a family business in Hong Kong
AU - Au, Kevin
AU - Chiang, Flora F.T.
AU - Birtch, Thomas A.
AU - Ding, Zhujun
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements This paper is based on a case studied under the Successful Trans-Generational Entrepreneurship Project (STEP) and presented at the Asia Pacific STEP Family Summit in Hong Kong, 2008 (see Au, Craig, & Ramachandran, 2011). It was also presented at the Asia Pacific Journal of Management Special Issue Conference at Renmin University of China, Beijing, 2011. The project was partially supported by a research grant of the Hong Kong UGC awarded to the first author (CUHK 440008). We thank Mike Peng (Consulting Editor) and Yuan Lu (Guest Editor) for helpful comments.
PY - 2013/9
Y1 - 2013/9
N2 - Many Chinese family businesses face the dilemma of building good operating and governance structures and systems while fostering an entrepreneurial spirit across generations. In this study, we explored trans-generational entrepreneurship in Automatic Manufacturing Ltd. (AML), a Hong Kong SME, to shed light on this problem. The first generation founded the company and chose a unique development path that emphasized quality, innovation, and learning before grooming a cadre of professional managers. To continue the family entrepreneurial spirit, AML used the "familiness" resources embodied within the family and its business to incubate the second generation. To test the wings of the second generation as entrepreneurs and then lure them back to AML to take over the responsibilities of the first generation, a unique succession plan nurturing spin-offs by the second generation was developed and implemented. Such a systematic approach, although still under experimentation, has the potential to become best practice for other family businesses. The implications of this approach for research in portfolio entrepreneurship and open innovation are also discussed.
AB - Many Chinese family businesses face the dilemma of building good operating and governance structures and systems while fostering an entrepreneurial spirit across generations. In this study, we explored trans-generational entrepreneurship in Automatic Manufacturing Ltd. (AML), a Hong Kong SME, to shed light on this problem. The first generation founded the company and chose a unique development path that emphasized quality, innovation, and learning before grooming a cadre of professional managers. To continue the family entrepreneurial spirit, AML used the "familiness" resources embodied within the family and its business to incubate the second generation. To test the wings of the second generation as entrepreneurs and then lure them back to AML to take over the responsibilities of the first generation, a unique succession plan nurturing spin-offs by the second generation was developed and implemented. Such a systematic approach, although still under experimentation, has the potential to become best practice for other family businesses. The implications of this approach for research in portfolio entrepreneurship and open innovation are also discussed.
KW - Angel investment
KW - Family business
KW - Trans-generational entrepreneurship
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84881370479&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10490-012-9331-7
DO - 10.1007/s10490-012-9331-7
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:84881370479
SN - 0217-4561
VL - 30
SP - 749
EP - 767
JO - Asia Pacific Journal of Management
JF - Asia Pacific Journal of Management
IS - 3
ER -
