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Abstract:
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Small and medium sized businesses are the engines that drive economic development and
contribute significantly to the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) of most countries. The roots of
such businesses are the families that form their foundations. To succeed, family business
founders must establish strong foundations, structures and succession plans. This paper
examined the role of African and Indian business founders in determining the future of their
businesses across generations. The study targeted 52 business founders (owners) and
managers operating Mombasa City (Kenya) and used stratified random sampling method to
identify the respondents. A questionnaire was used as the primary data collection instrument
while a documentary analysis was performed to attain secondary data. The paper found that
family businesses are predominant among all respondents. It was also found that most Indian
families involve family members in business during strategic development and planning. In
terms of longevity, Indians businesses lasted longer while African businesses were only a few
years old and rarely succeeded across two or three generations. |