Contributions to Succession in a Family Business from the Perspective of Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey (GUESSS)

Relationship between family support and organizational commitment is investigated, in the attitude of succession in a family business, and, this one, in the succession intention. Therefore, the research operationalizes constructs studied by the Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey, in a survey with 289 university students from the Federal University in Brazil. Structural modeling showed satisfactory adjustment indices to support the seven hypotheses of the study: family support assumes an important explanatory capacity for the variation of affective commitment (R2=38%), as well as of normative commitment (R2=41%); commitment (affective and normative) assumes an important explanatory capacity for the variation in the succession attitude (R2=49%); and, the suggested relationship between the succession attitude and the succession intention (β=0.775; t=22.772, p=0.000), in addition to being supported, demonstrates the greater explanatory capacity of the predictor construct variation (R2=60%). It was concluded, therefore, that prior planning, with actions that mobilize future family members (successors) can result in the achievement of the longevity of these companies.