Development of a competency-based learning program for successors of family-owned businesses with a plan for implementation and evaluation

The purpose of this applied research project was to develop a competency-based learning program for the more deliberate development of prospective successors in family businesses. The project also outlined and validated a plan for implementation and evaluation of the learning program.; Both research and development methodologies were used in this applied research project. Research procedures included a comprehensive review of the literature to determine what is known about successor development and the use of interviews to identify competencies common to exemplary successors. Development procedures included the establishment of criteria for learning programs for prospective successors, the use of a formative expert panel to ensure the validity of the purposes, goals, and processes of the plan, and the use of a summative committee to validate the plan's usefulness to its intended audience.; The project resulted in two findings of importance: (a) highly effective successors possess and use competencies that transcend the operational skills they learned during early phases of development redirecting their attention toward actions that will advance their organizations to a next level and (b) despite many barriers to the succession process, family business owners recognize the potential benefits of a flexible successor development learning program that is sensitive to individual learner needs, the uncertainty of the required future skill set, and the issues unique to family business organizations.; Three products emanated from the project. First, a competency model was developed from the interviews with exemplary successors. The model contains attributes and skills of exemplary successors from which prospective successors can assess their competency development. Second, a list of criteria that programs for successor development in family businesses should meet was created and validated. Finally, a learning program for successors was developed including implementation and evaluation plans for use in family owned businesses contemplating their successor development issues.; Further research was recommended to determine the effects of gender differences on competency-based successor development. Also, secondary data analysis was suggested to isolate those competencies that distinguish exemplary performers from average ones.