The Effects of Different Generation and Market Positions on Decision-Making Choices

• Main Authors: Meng-Fen Wu, 吳孟芬
• Other Authors: none
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/36720139665431971004

碩士 === 國立高雄大學 === 高階經營管理碩士在職專班(EMBA) === 101 === According to the results of the research on family business conducted by McKinsey & Company, the family businesses in the world have an average life span of only 24 years. Among them, only about 30% can be passed down to the second generation, and less than 13% can be passed down to the third generation. Only 5% of the family businesses can still create value for stockholders after the third generation. The second-generation successors (leaders) bear the responsibility for sustaining business operations passed down by the first generation. Is the successful experience of the first generation sufficient to cope with the competitive and volatile market? The first generation or the founders proactively establish and expand their businesses based on market opportunities. While keeping the businesses going, must the second generation be endowed with the (strategic) ambitions of the founders to actively innovate and expand businesses, in order for the businesses to reach a new peak? How does the mental model of the second generation operate when making decisions? Papers on second-generation successors hardly contain research on the difference between the first and the second generations in decision making; neither do they explore the factors that decision makers take into consideration when they make decisions and the reasons for making such decisions. This study used the research method, design of experiment (DOE), and conducted verification with two simulated experimental situations. A total of 133 valid questionnaires were collected from first- and second-generation business operators. It is found that difference between generations and in market positioning don’t significantly affect decision making, whereas the reasons for making decision significantly influence decision making. The analytical results of this study provide the industry with the following suggestions: (1) there is no significant difference between generations in strategic choice. The second generation can not only keep the businesses going, without being subject to the successful model of the first generation, but they can also create their own blueprint for development; thus, they have succeeded in breaking away from the ideology that great men’s sons seldom do well. (2) Marketing positioning has no significant impact on strategic choice. When facing the ever-changing external operational environment, the leaders or the followers in the market will consider the operational performance of the enterprises; whether the strategic choice is to expand or to maintain the business, it has its different strategic compositions and operational benefits. (3) Reasons and choices for decision making have all achieved statistical significance. Business operators with strategic ambitions choose to actively expand their businesses when making decisions, and their attempts are reflected in their conquest of cities and towns with their businesses, in order to create enterprise excellence. This study hopes to contribute to the quantitative research on mental model, strategic ambitions, and operational performance in the future, as well as to provide a reference for subsequent studies on these issues.