1;Foreword;6 2;Acknowledgements;8 3;Table of contents;10 4;List of figures;13 5;List of tables;14 6;List of abbreviations;15 7;1 Introduction;17 7.1;1.1 Motivation and research problem;17 7.2;1.2 Research goals;19 7.3;1.3 Research philosophy;22 7.4;1.4 Methodology: A mixed methods approach;22 7.5;1.5 Structure of the dissertation;26 8;2 Theoretical framework;28 8.1;2.1 Leadership;28 8.1.1;2.1.1 Overview of leadership theories;28 8.1.2;2.1.2 Leadership development;39 8.1.3;2.1.3 CEO and leadership succession;43 8.2;2.2 Family business;48 8.2.1;2.2.1 Definition and theoretical approaches;48 8.2.2;2.2.2 Passing the baton to the next generation of leaders;50 8.3;2.3 Theories from social and cognitive psychology;58 8.3.1;2.3.1 Bandura's social cognitive theory;58 8.3.2;2.3.2 Leader transference and implicit leadership theory;63 8.3.3;2.3.3 Expectation (dis)confirmation theory;66 9;3 Does the apple fall far from the tree? Leadership style continuity in family businesses;68 9.1;3.1 Introduction;69 9.2;3.2 Theoretical background;71 9.2.1;3.2.1 Leadership style continuity and family businesses;71 9.2.2;3.2.2 Leadership style continuity and observational learning;72 9.3;3.3 Conceptual framework;74 9.3.1;3.3.1 Family kin and leadership style continuity;76 9.3.2;3.3.2 Influential factors at the individual level;78 9.3.3;3.3.3 Influential factors at the family level;80 9.3.4;3.3.4 Influential factors at the family business level;82 9.4;3.4 Discussion;84 10;4 How does leadership style (dis)similarity influence employees' attitudes? An empirical study about CEO leadership succession in SMEs;87 10.1;4.1 Introduction;88 10.2;4.2 Theoretical background and hypotheses;90 10.2.1;4.2.1 Charismatic leadership style and employees' attitudes;92 10.2.2;4.2.2 Effects of leadership style similarity;94 10.2.3;4.2.3 Effects of leadership style dissimilarity;96 10.3;4.3 Method;100 10.3.1;4.3.1 Participants and procedures;100 10.3.2;4.3.2 Measures;104 10.3.3;4.3.3 Analysis;106 10.4;4.4 Results;112 10.5;4.5 Discussion;121 10.5.1;4.5.1 Implications for theory and research;121 10.5.2;4.5.2 Practical implications;123 10.5.3;4.5.3 Study limitations and recommendations for future research;124 11;5 Intra-family leadership succession and leadership style (dis)similarity: An explorative, multiple case study with non-family member employees;126 11.1;5.1 Introduction;127 11.2;5.2 Theoretical background;129 11.2.1;5.2.1 Family business and leadership succession;129 11.2.2;5.2.2 Leadership behavior and effectiveness;130 11.3;5.3 Methodology;134 11.3.1;5.3.1 Research design and sample;134 11.3.2;5.3.2 Data collection and interview protocol;138 11.3.3;5.3.3 Data analysis;140 11.4;5.4 Findings;144 11.4.1;5.4.1 Taxonomy of leadership behaviors;144 11.4.2;5.4.2 Successor leadership effectiveness;155 11.4.3;5.4.3 Family business perception;161 11.4.4;5.4.4 Co-leadership;163 11.4.5;5.4.5 "It is a generational matter": Successor youthfulness;165 11.5;5.5 Discussion;167 11.5.1;5.5.1 Successor and leadership behavior;167 11.5.2;5.5.2 Moderating factors and leaderships style (dis)similarity effectiveness;168 11.5.3;5.5.3 Methodological issues;170 11.5.4;5.5.4 Limitations and future research;171 11.5.5;5.5.5 Managerial implications;172 11.6;5.6 Conclusion;173 12;6 Final conclusion;174 12.1;6.1 Thesis summary;174 12.2;6.2 Theoretical implications;180 12.3;6.3 Managerial implications;181 12.4;6.4 Limitations and avenues for future research;181 12.5;6.5 Closing thoughts;183 13;References;184 14;Appendices;216 14.1;Appendix A. Definition, cutoff criteria and interpretation of the Fit Indexes applied for CFA;217 14.2;Appendix B. Constructs validity checks and fit indexes;219 14.3;Appendix C. Additional features of the response surface for OCA and OBSE;221 14.4;Appendix D. Illustrative e-mail sent to the CEOs with the invitation to participate in the survey;226 14.5;Appendix E. Exemplar e-mail sent to the employees with the invitation to participate in the survey at Time 2;228 14.6;Appen