This article identifies how relationship-regulation processes between family members
support or hinder the succession process in family businesses during first-generation
succession. We analyzed interviews with incumbents and successors from twelve first-
generation family firms. We found that intrafamily succession is driven by relational
negotiation processes organized around three main domains: negotiating the shared
identity of the incumbent and successor, their shared construction regarding succession,
and shaping the family rules that frame the process. In the proposed theoretical model,
their common construction is represented by the metaphor of a bridge built ‘brick
by brick’ as a result of their relationship regulation processes. Relationship negotiations
around shared identity served as a basis for their common construction, while negotiations
on family rules shaped its framework. Findings suggest a dynamic and relationship-oriented
approach to succession wherein the role of planning is not central and relationship
negotiations regulate the achievement of the succession.
