Abstract
Based on the case of the Franco-Mauritians, the white business elite of the island of Mauritius, this contribution argues that it is important to also analyse what happens when family businesses come to an ‘end’. Notwithstanding remarkable exceptions, many family firms struggle to prolong their existence over several generations—particularly from the third generation onwards. Yet in addition to family firms that go bust or otherwise cease to exist, the Franco-Mauritian case highlights that firms may continue to operate, just not in the hands of the same (extended) family. Instead, they may be sold on, frequently to other family enterprises. Accordingly, by virtue of some families facing difficulties managing their firms, other families may expand their business. To better understand this, the contribution argues for the relevance of studying whether, indeed, family firms more often purchase struggling family businesses, and what this implies for the (anthropological) analysis of family enterprises.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Interestingly, at around the same time, LVMH purchased another family firm with a history of over a century, Bulgari, without much opposition (Elliott, 2011). The heirs considered it actually beneficial to team up with the global conglomerate LVMH, as this would allow Bulgari to scale up. Yet with a majority stake, LVMH consolidated its position, more or less as a family firm, too, though rather as one in its first generation.
- 2.
https://www.iblgroup.com/our-history [accessed 26 May 2022].
- 3.
Since this 2002 IMF-World Bank report, much of the vast landholdings initially dedicated to sugar production have become more valuable through the conversion of land to property development.
References
Allen, R. B. (1999). Slaves, freedmen, and indentured laborers in colonial Mauritius. Cambridge University Press.
Benedict, B. (1965). Mauritius: The problems of a plural society. Pall Mall Press.
Boudet, C. (2005). La construction politique d’une identité Franco-Mauricienne (1810–1968): Le discours identitaire comme gestion de la contradiction. Kabaro: Revue Internationale des Sciences de l’Homme et des Sociétés, 3, 23–44.
Business, L. P. (2020). The top 100 companies. Business Publications.
Carsten, J. (2000). Cultures of relatedness: New approaches to the study of kinship. Cambridge University Press.
Colli, A. (2003). The history of family business, 1850–2000. Cambridge University Press.
de Pina-Cabral, J., & Pedroso de Lima, A. (Eds.). (2000). Elites: Choice, leadership and succession. Berg.
Elliott, H. (2011, March 7). LVMH acquires majority stake in Bulgari. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/hannahelliott/2011/03/07/lvmh-acquires-majority-stake-in-bulgari/.
Eriksen, T.H. (1998). Common denominators: Ethnicity, nation-building and compromise in Mauritius. .
Farrell, S. (2014, September 3). LVMH and Hermès settle long-running dispute over ownership stake. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/sep/03/french-brands-lvmh-hermes-settle-long-running-dispute-ownership-stake.
Kleve, H., Koellner, T., von Schlippe, A., & Rüsen, T. A. (2020). The business family 3.0: Dynastic business families as families, organizations and networks—Outline of a theory extension. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 37(3), 516–526.
Koellner, T. (2022). Family firms and business families: A field for anthropological research. Anthropology Today 38 (6): 8-10. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.12768.
Koellner, T., Haver-Rassfeld, H., & Kleve, H. (2022). Das doing-family Konzept. FUS, 1, 11–17.
Lagesse, M. (1982). Blyth brothers & company limited, 1830–1980. IPC.
Ly-Tio-Fane Pineo, H. (1993). Ile de France, 1715–1746. Mahatma Gandhi Institute.
MacMillan, A. (2000). Mauritius illustrated: Historical and descriptive, commercial and industrial, facts, figures and resources. Asian Educational Services.
Marcus, G. E. (2008). Family firms amidst the creative destruction of capitalism. American Ethnologist, 32(4), 618–622.
Mills, C.W. (2000 [1956]). The power elite. Oxford University Press.
Mozaffar, S. (2005). Negotiating independence in Mauritius. International Negotiation, 10, 263–291.
North-Coombes, M. (2000). Studies in the political economy of Mauritius. Mahatma Gandhi Institute.
Pinçon, M., & Pinçon-Charlot, M. (1998). Grandes fortunes: Dynasties familiales et formes de richesse en France. Editions Payot et Rivages.
Ramtohul, R., & Kasenally, R. (2021). Elites and the practice of (non)accountability in Mauritius. In W. Adebanwi & R. Orock (Eds.), Elites and the politics of accountability in Africa (pp. 218–246). University of Michigan Press.
Salverda, T. (2015a). The Franco-Mauritian elite: Power and anxiety in the face of change. Berghahn Books.
Salverda, T. (2015b). (dis)unity in diversity: How common beliefs about ethnicity benefit the white Mauritian elite. Journal of Modern African Studies, 53(4), 533–555.
Salverda, T. (2016). Who belongs to the elite? Insights from the study of the Franco-Mauritians. Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, 141, 123–142.
Schumpeter, J.A. (1975 [1942]). Capitalism, socialism and democracy. Harper.
Schweitzer, P. (2000). Dividends of kinship. Routledge.
Sornay, P. (1950). Isle de France/Ile Maurice. General Printing and Stationery Company.
Stewart, A., & Hitt, M. A. (2012). Why can’t a family business be more like a nonfamily business? Modes of professionalization in family firms. Family Business Review, 25(1), 58–86.
Storey, W. K. (1997). Science and power in colonial Mauritius. University of Rochester Press.
Toussaint, A. (1971). Histoire de l’Ile Maurice. Presses Universitaires de France.
Vaughan, M. (2005). Creating the creole island: Slavery in eighteenth-century Mauritius. Duke University Press.
Welsch, R. L., & Vivanco, L. A. (2014). Cultural anthropology: Asking questions about humanity. Oxford University Press.
Wong, H. W. (2021). Introduction. Journal of Business Anthropology, 10(2), 226–240.
World Bank. (2002). Country assistance strategy for the Republic of Mauritius. Report No: 23904 MAS. World Bank.
Yanagisako, S. J. (2018). Family firms. In H. Callan (Ed.), The international Encyclopedia of anthropology (pp. 1–7). Wiley Blackwell.
Yanagisako, S. J. (2019). Family firms as kinship enterprises. Economics Discussion Papers, 2019–12 (pp. 1–8).
Yanagisako, S. J. (2020). Situating ascriptions of independence and dependence in Italian family capitalism. Social Anthropology, 28(3), 700–713.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Salverda, T. (2023). The Other Side of Succession Issues: How the Decline of Some Family Businesses Allows for the Consolidation of Others. In: Koellner, T. (eds) Family Firms and Business Families in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20525-5_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20525-5_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-20524-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-20525-5
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)