The Success Keys for Family Firms : A Comparison Between Lebanese and French Systems

This study investigates the success factors that can influence the performance and the continuity of the French and Lebanese family firms. Based on the literature review, the performance of the family firms was found to be linked to effective success keys like the succession planning, networking strategy, financial structure, management practices and finally the governance structure. Effectively, the results of this study indicate that French family firms are linked to four success keys (Planning for Succession, Using of Emotional intelligence, Professional HR management and Long Term Overview) while the Lebanese family firms are linked to five success keys (Financial structure with low leverage, Planning for Succession, Using of Emotional intelligence, professional HR management and Governmental Networking). Due to the non-significant impact of governance structure, an advanced investigation has been applied to detect the impact of this variable on the performance of family firm. The results of this advanced study indicate a negative correlation between the performance of family firms and the board of directors' size. Moreover, a positive correlation has been found between family firm performance and the presence of the outsiders in the board of directors