Title
Prof. Dr.
Last Name
Zellweger
First name
Thomas
Email
thomas.zellweger@unisg.ch
ORCID
Phone
+41 71 224 71 00
Google Scholar
1 - 9 of 9
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PublicationShould I stay or should I go? Career choice intentions of students with family business backgroundPersonal and motivational patterns of intentional founders have been researched in great depth; however, antecedents to career choices of intentional successors have been conspicuously missing in entrepreneurship research. By drawing on theory of planned behavior, we investigate how intentional founders, successors, and employees differ in terms of locus of control and entrepreneurial self-efficacy as well as independence and innovation motives. We find that transitive likelihood of career intent depends on degree of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and the independence motive. Unexpectedly, we see that high levels of internal locus of control lead to a preference of employment, which challenges traditional entrepreneurship research and suggests that the feasibility of an entrepreneurial career path does not automatically make it desirable. Our findings suggests that students with family business background are pessimistic about being in control, but optimistic about their efficacy to pursue an entrepreneurial careerType:Journal:Volume:Issue:
Scopus© Citations 465 -
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PublicationComing Home or Breaking Free? A Closer Look at the Succession Intentions of Next-Generation Family Business MembersFamily business owners have a strong desire to keep their company under family control across generations. But who is best suited to take over, and which factors encourage succession within the next generation? In our previous study, Coming home or breaking free? Career choice intentions of the next generation in family businesses (2011), we explored what motivates students to pursue a career in the family business. In this study, we continue that exploration of succession intentions but with an even broader international scope. Some of our more interesting findings include: - Only 3.5% of all next generation members want to take over their parents' firm directly after college graduation; 4.9% plan to do so five years later. - The pool of potential successors who are generally open to becoming a successor is much larger (19.8% of all students with family business background). - Since 2011, succession intentions have been decreasing; we estimate a decrease of around 30%. Likely causes include a more attractive job market and potential successors developing deeper insights into what it takes to assume control of the family business. While fewer next-generation members intend to become successors, those who do may be more motivated and better prepared. - Female potential successors have weaker succession intentions than their male counterparts. In addition, we identify different important drivers of succession intentions on the cultural and institutional level, the individual level, the firm level, and the family level.
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PublicationStudent Entrepreneurship Across the Globe: A Look at Intentions and ActivitiesWhat are students' entrepreneurial intentions and activities across the world? This question is of highest social and economic relevance. Students represent the entrepreneurs of tomorrow; their entrepreneurial plans and activities will shape tomorrow's societies and the overall economic well-being. Hence, it is of highest interest for different stakeholders such as academics, practitioners, educators, policy-makers, and last but not least students how many students intend to pursue an entrepreneurial career and how those ntrepreneurial intentions come into being. The GUESSS project (Global Universiy Entrepreneurial Spirit Students' Survey) addresses this question on a global level. For that purpose, the 6th data collection wave in the history of GUESSS was conducted in 34 countries at more than 700 universities between October 2013 and March 2014. This led to a dataset with more than 109'000 complete student responses. This report provides an in-depth analysis of this unique dataset, shedding a nuanced light on students' entrepreneurial intentions and concrete activities. We focused in particular on cross-country comparisons, whereby we also consider numerous other relevant aspects, such as gender and specific social and cultural determinants.
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PublicationComing Home or Breaking Free? : Career choice intentions of the next generation in family businessesFamily companies are characterized by their unique combination of dynastic will, family ownership and professional management: this connection produces a dynamic that offers competitive advantages, but it also harbors potential risks. Generational change in family businesses is a highly complex process and often constitutes a balancing act for everyone involved - family, company and owner. Resolving issues is both emotionally led as well as practical; alongside fiscal, legal and financial questions are the very personal aims and values of the family members and, in particular, the views and ambitions of the next generation of family business owners. This study attempts to provide insight on the succession intentions of students with a family business background. It draws from a large- scale dataset collected in 2011 as part of the Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students' Survey (GUESSS) project, which analyzes the entrepreneurial intentions of students around the world. Given that the founding intentions of students have been analyzed in great depth over recent years, the present study complements the picture by focusing on succession intentions. We believe that our study provides some fundamentally new insights into family firm succession. We investigate in detail what motivates students to pursue a career in their parents' firm. To this end, we explore the individual, family, business and societal-level drivers of succession intentions and conclude with the implications for both senior generation family firm owners and students from family businesses.
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PublicationEntrepreneurial Intentions and Activities of Students across the World : International Report of GUESSS 2011The economic and social relevance of entrepreneurship in general and new ventures in particular is well-established across the world. Students, as they could be the entrepreneurs of tomorrow, have attracted considerable scholarly and public attention in the last decades. Despite strong research efforts in the past, many questions are still not sufficiently answered. Which individual, societal, family- and university-related factors enhance students' intention to found their own company? How do students' entrepreneurial intentions and activities compare across a multitude of nations? Are there globally applicable best practices? To generate unique insights and contributions that address these gaps, it is thus imperative to further investigate students' entrepreneurial intentions, activities and their antecedents on a global level. This is the overarching goal of the GUESSS research project (Global Universiy Entrepreneurial Spirit Students' Survey). This report presents the results and insights of the 2011 edition of the GUESSS project on the global level. In Spring 2011, a large-scale quantitative survey was conducted in 26 different countries, addressing more than 1 Million students from 489 Universities, leading to a data set with more than 93'000 responses (N=93'265).