Abstract

Research suggests that children of self-employed parents and children belonging to family businesses are much more likely to pursue entrepreneurial careers. But while nature is a critical driving force behind intergenerational entrepreneurship, nurture seems to be even more important. The next question, and the overarching goal of this dissertation, is how do enterprising families – defined as families who own more than one business, but don't necessarily do so together – nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs? Of particular importance to discovering the process of intergenerational entrepreneurship, is understanding why some siblings follow an entrepreneurial path while others actively avoid it. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, 35 family members across eight enterprising families were interviewed. The findings suggest a critical determinant of who becomes an entrepreneur is based on children's entrepreneurial sensemaking, which they form throughout their experiences in childhood and adolescence. Child-specific characteristics, such as entrepreneurial innateness, as well as the presence of family system facilitators, were critical factors that influenced the valence of children's entrepreneurial sensemaking (i.e., negative, positive, balanced), which in turn influenced their career trajectories (i.e., never entrepreneurs, legacy entrepreneurs, open professionals). These findings have important practical implications for the sustainability of enterprising families.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2023

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Combs, James

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Business Administration

Degree Program

Business Administration; Management Track

Identifier

CFE0009701; DP0027808

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0027808

Language

English

Release Date

August 2028

Length of Campus-only Access

5 years

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Campus-only Access)

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