ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the case study on father-daughter succession in a West Virginia family business. The family business setting dates back centuries but only relatively recently has it been studied by researchers as an important component of current world economy. Family businesses have been described by Davis and Stern as exceptional entities due to their concern for the long run over generations, a commitment to quality which stands behind the family name and their humanity in the workplace where there is more care and concern for employees. While family businesses around the world have been studied, there has been scant research on rural family businesses and in few studies done on family businesses in mountain regions such as the Appalachia region located in West Virginia in the United States and, specifically, in father-daughter successions in family business. The socialization process of children as they become leaders in a family business setting is becoming a target of interest in entrepreneurial research.
