期刊名称：International Journal of Management and Business Studies
印刷版ISSN：2231-2463
电子版ISSN：2230-9519
出版年度：2013
卷号：3
期号：2-1
出版社：Cosmic Journals
摘要：Small and medi um enterprises are a vital econo mic base for any economy as they have the ability to create employment. A family enterprise is an enterprise that is in fluenced by two or mo re family members through their participation, ownership, strategic preference or culture. Most business enterprises start as family enterprises. In the United States of America for example, seventy percent of the five hundred fortune companies are family enterprises and ninety percent of all businesses in that country are family businesses. Empirical researches reviewed show that as vital as they are, family enterprises have very low survival rate. Less than a third of family businesses survive the transition from first generation to second generation and of those that survive, half do not survive the transition from second to third generation. There are several reasons why Small and Medium Family Enterprises are an important sector in modern business. Some of the key reasons are; the encouragement of entrepreneurship; the greater likelihood that Small and Medium Enterprises will utilize labour intensive technologies and th us have an immediate impact on employment generation; they can usually be established rapidly and put into operation to produce quick returns; Small and Medium Enterprise development can encourage the process of both inter- and intra-regional decentralization; and, they may well become a co untervailing force against the eco nomic p ower o f larger enterprises. This article focuses on the effect of entrepreneurial sk ills on th e sustai nab ilit y of Smal l and Medium Family Enterprises. The role of the principal confidant is also examined in this article. Sp ecifically, the article aims at establishing the effect o f entrepreneurial skills o n the sustainab ility of Small and Medium Family Enterprises after the exit of the founders, among other objectives. The article reviews relevant literature on the subject of entrepreneurship and makes conclusion based on the results of the study that entrepreneurial skills have a great positive influence, on sustainability of Small and Medium Family Enterprises. The results indicate that seventy per centum (70%) of the corresponding change in sustainability of Small and Medium Family Enterprises after the exit of the founder can be explained by a unit change in entrepreneurial skills. The findings suggest that an entrepreneur/owner inculcates an entrepreneurial culture in the enterprise and that entrepreneurial skills of the entrepreneur/managers drive the enterprise to above average performance leading to high profitability for the sustainability of the of Small and Medium Family Enterprise. The study, however, recognizes that other factors such as managerial skills, succession planning individual behaviors and human resource management skills also play a significant role in the sustainability of Small and Medium Family Enterprises after the exit of the founders
关键词：Family Enterprises; Family Business Founder; Entrepreneurship ;Skills; Sustainability; Principal Confidant and Mentorship
