The Greek Family Businesses and the Succession Problem

Family firms are important, not only because they make an essential contribution to the economy, hut also because of the long-term stability they bring, the responsibility they feel and the values they stand for. Greece has one of the largest numbers of SMEs businesses within the EU and most of them are family businesses. Most of these family businesses are small and very small and operate in traditional sectors of the national economy such as retail trade, services and construction. The three most important challenges faced by the Greek family businesses are: business strategy formulation, staff employment and transition of ownership or control to the next generation. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.