Succession Planning and Performance of Small and Medium-sized Family Enterprises: a Case of Obuasi Municipality, Ghana

Abstract

Despite the significance and involvement of small and medium enterprise on the economy, several empirical studies indicate that most family-owned small and medium enterprise fail to grow with some folding up within the first few years of their operation. The study looked at the factors that influence succession planning, the challenges of succession planning and the relationship between succession planning and the performance of family-owned small and medium enterprise. The study discussed the theory of planned behaviour, the concept of succession planning and firm performance evaluation as part of the theoretical and conceptual analysis. The thesis adopted the theory of positivism and the descriptive design discussed in a quantitative approach to science. In all, 60 family-owned small and medium enterprise in the Cape Coast Metropolis were included in the study using convenience sampling technique. The research employed a questionnaire to elicit the required data for the study. Based on the discoveries of the research, we can conclude that the succession planning of sampled family-owned small and medium enterprise in the municipal had an important positive influence on their firm performance. It was suggested that managers of family-owned SMEs or entrepreneurs in Obuasi Municipal must always ensure they include succession-planning policies in their business’s core vision statement and always identify key areas and position that needs successors before the need arises.