Post-Succession Innovation in Family Businesses: Exploring the Tension Between Incumbent Imprinting and Successor Self-Determination

This study advances the understanding of innovation across generations in family businesses by revealing how imprinting and self-determination shape innovation trajectories following succession. Through a case study of 16 Dutch family Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the food industry, we identified four innovation trajectories—Inherited, Ancillary, Synergistic, and Detached Innovation. We disentangle the effect of structural imprinting and behavioral imprinting on the successor and examine how successor self-determination mediates imprinting forces. We rebalance the emphasis on incumbent-centric family business studies and explain the heterogeneity of post-succession innovation outcomes. These insights offer new theoretical tools for understanding and managing innovation during critical transition periods.