Managing family businesses in light of methodological assumptions for higher education

Abstract

Family businesses play a key role in the Polish economy, accounting for approx. 36 % of the MMSP sector. Development of family companies is connected with dilemmas regarding, among others, continuity and succession. In Polish business, a long-awaited moment of handing over the power and ownership to the next generation has appeared – the so-called generation of millennials, which is currently being educated at universities. The aim of this study is to identify areas of cooperation between universities and family businesses in the context of preparing potential successors to manage Polish family businesses at the dawn of the fourth industrial revolution. The article presents differences in the perception of the role of education in the succession process by successors and doyens of Silesian family enterprises on the basis of the author's own research. An attempt was made here to explain the divergence of opinions between the successors from the millennials generation and the representatives of the baby boomer generation (doyens). The main part of the study consists of a proposal of areas of academic education for future managers of family businesses under the conditions of Industry 4.0, including the use of educational methods adapted not only to requirements of the market, but also expectations of the millennials generation.