Investigating the actual career decisions of the next generation: The impact of family business involvement Linda Murphy a, *, Frank Lambrechts b,1 a University College Cork, Room 2.67, O’Rahilly Building, Cork, Ireland b KIZOK Research Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Hasselt University, Agoralaan Building D, BE3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium Introduction It has been recognized that participation in the family business is inevitably a career option for those who come from a family business background (Schro ¨ der, Schmitt-Rodermund, & Arnaud, 2011). Eckrich and Loughead (1996) note the immense impact of the next generation’s career decisions on the future planning, investment and continued survival of the family business. However, given the importance of the career decisions of the next generation, we know relatively little about how next- generation family members make career decisions and how their family business background and involvement influences these decisions. The current literature informs us that prior family business exposure serves as an important intergenerational influence on entrepreneurial intent (Carr & Sequeira, 2007) and that children with a family business background have an unclear sense of their career interests (Eckrich & Loughead, 1996). We also know that for next-generation family members that grow up in a family business, career planning involves the balance of the exploration of personal career interests on the one hand and family interests and employment opportunities within the family business on the other hand (Schro ¨ der & Schmitt-Rodermund, 2013). However, whether this balancing act between personal career interests and family interests ultimately alters or influences the career paths of the next generation is unknown. A deeper understanding of the balancing act that next-generation family members encounter may be crucial to their involvement in the family business. Next-generation family members find themselves in a double-bind situation as they struggle to make career decisions both as family members and as potential successors. As Lansberg (1983) notes, the exchange of resources in a family business is guided by implicit affective principles that focus each person’s attention on the needs and long-term well being of the other. Next-generation family members may make career deci- sions based on the long-term well being of the family business as opposed to their own personal career interests. This exploratory research seeks to deepen our understanding of how next- generation family members make career decisions by asking the following question: ‘how does family business involvement affect the career decisions of the next generation?’. Handler (1990) warns that if next-generation family members become too involved in the family business before discovering their own path, they may compromise their personal goals. However, involvement in the family business for next-generation family members is unavoidable. Our research demonstrates that for next- generation family members, their involvement in the family business Journal of Family Business Strategy xxx (2015) xxx–xxx A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 29 August 2013 Received in revised form 2 September 2014 Accepted 4 October 2014 Keywords: Careers Family business involvement Next-generation family member Helping and exploration Qualitative methods A B S T R A C T While the current family business literature has deeply informed our understanding of the career intentions of adolescents with a family background in business, a salient gap emerges regarding the ways in which family business involvement impacts the careers of the next generation. This article reports the empirical results of an interpretive qualitative study of the phenomenon of the careers of next-generation family members. The findings suggest that the family business involvement of the next generation not only influences but also alters the careers of the next generation. Helping is proposed as a key means of family business involvement for the next generation and a unique resource for family businesses. Through the activity of helping, the next generation explores the arena of the family business, which has significant consequences on career decision making. ß 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +353 21 4903272; fax: +353 21 4903377. E-mail addresses: Linda.murphy@ucc.ie (L. Murphy), Frank.lambrechts@uhasselt.be (F. Lambrechts). 1 Tel.: +32 0 11 268693. G Model JFBS-153; No. of Pages 12 Please cite this article in press as: Murphy, L., & Lambrechts, F. Investigating the actual career decisions of the next generation: The impact of family business involvement. Journal of Family Business Strategy (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfbs.2014.10.003 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Family Business Strategy jou r nal h o mep ag e: w ww .elsevier .co m /loc ate/jfb s http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfbs.2014.10.003 1877-8585/ß 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.