Family CEO successor and firm performance: The moderating role of sustainable HRM practices and corporate philanthropy

Abstract

Abstract We develop and test a multi‐stakeholder perspective of intrafamily CEO succession by exploring how family CEO successors affect post‐succession firm performance under conditions of sustainable human resource management (sustainable HRM) practices toward employees and top managers, as well as corporate philanthropic activities in the broader community. Using a sample of 414 CEO successions in family firms listed on China's stock exchanges during 2008–2016, we find an insurance‐like effect of both sustainable HRM and corporate philanthropy in enhancing firm performance of family CEO successors. Our results also show that firms with family CEO successors will outperform those with nonfamily counterparts under conditions of high employee compensation, low top management team (TMT) compensation, and long TMT tenure. Our findings suggest that sustainable HRM and corporate philanthropy complement rather than substitute in strengthening family leadership during CEO succession.