Influence of Strategic Leadership on Succession Planning Among Family-owned Businesses: a Case of Food Processing Companies in Kilifi County, Kenya

Abstract

The objective of this study was to explain the effect of strategic leadership on succession planning of family-owned food processing companies in Kilifi County. The study adopted the use of survey approach. Primary data was collected from a sample of 195 companies among participants serving in the senior positions. Three phases of analysis included descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression tests. The findings revealed over 71% of companies had been in operation for over 11 years. Moreover, 80% of the sample have at least three family members with a majority of shareholding. Additionally, over 57% of the sample were established by the participants and their spouses who serve in management and daily operations. Descriptive statistics also revealed strategic leaders sometimes practice idealized influence. However, they fairly often and frequently if not always, practice inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulating, and individualized consideration. Moreover, the findings revealed leaders in the family-owned companies fairly if not always, practice succession planning activities. The Pearson Correlation analysis found moderate positive association between inspirational motivation and succession planning, indicating higher levels of inspiration motivation would help increase the chances of followers replacing their leaders. While on the other hand, both intellectual stimulating and individualized consideration showed to have strong positive correlation with succession planning. Similar findings were shown in regression analysis with strategic leadership achieving 74% of variance in succession planning. Standardized coefficients showed individualized consideration had the highest impact followed by inspirational motivation, and Intellectual stimulating respectively. The findings of the study are supported by the premises from transformational leadership and path goal theories. Moreover, the study makes practical implications for leaders serving in family-owned businesses. They need to focus more on individual considerations such as telling them what they need to do, letting them know what leaders are thinking about, and giving special attention to others. Such leaders can intellectually stimulate others by getting others rethink about ideas they had never questioned before, offering new ways of looking at puzzling things, and allowing others think about old problems in new ways. Third, they need to assist others find meaning to what they do, offer appealing suggestions on what they can do, and making simple expressions what they could do