Decision-making during the business succession process: applied to agricultural family businesses in The Netherlands

By combining different disciplines such as entrepreneurship, psychology, and business administration, this paper provides insights into the decision-making process involved in the succession of agricultural family businesses. It offers an overview of how choices and decisions are influenced among all actors involved in the process, including the incumbent, successor, non-succeeding family members, and both informal and formal advisors. This overview creates practical insights to support a more successful business succession process. Decision-making in business succession is influenced by several factors such as business systems and culture, as well as mutual relationships, personality traits, behavioral patterns, and habits of those involved. Communication and trust, between both succeeding and incumbent family members, are important aspects that can lead to a successful process. When family relationships are strong, there is a better chance that the social-emotional aspects of business succession do not become a bottleneck. Financial, tax and legal issues can often be resolved if the social-emotional foundation is solid.