Transgenerational Entrepreneuring in Multigenerational Family Firms: Succession as a Catalyst of Strategic Renewal and Entrepreneurial Mindset Transfer

This paper examines how the entrepreneurial mindset is collectively enacted and transmitted across generations in a multigenerational family business through the intertwined processes of succession and strategic renewal. Drawing on the concept of entrepreneuring, we argue that transgenerational entrepreneuring is not a fixed organizational trait but a dynamic, collectively reproduced disposition sustained by entrepreneurial legacy and activated by succession preparation and strategic reorientation. We conduct a longitudinal processual analysis of a sixth-generation French family firm founded in 1826, combining semi-structured interviews, archival records, and secondary data collected over 5 years. Our findings reveal that succession functions not merely as a governance transition but as a strategic inflection point that legitimizes entrepreneurial reorientation, while the systematic coexistence of two generations within the firm constitutes the primary mechanism through which the entrepreneurial mindset is transferred and reactivated. We contribute by conceptualizing transgenerational entrepreneuring as a three-dimensional process: the progressive immersion of successors, the use of succession as a catalyst of strategic renewal, and the iterative confrontation with environmental disruptions.