| Abstract | |
| Survey Number | 0690 |
| Survey Title | Questionnaire on Business Succession among Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, 2009 |
| Depositor | Japan Finance Corporation Research Institute |
| Restriction of Use |
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| Educational Purpose | Only available for research. |
| Period of Data Use Permission | One year |
| Access to Datasets | Download |
| SSJDA Data Analysis | Not available |
| Summary |
For several years, there has been growing interest in business succession among small- and medium-sized enterprises, the background being the aging of managers. In addition to the structural factor that there will be an increasing number of companies in the near future dealing with business succession, the “Act on Facilitation of Succession of Management of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises” was enacted in 2008. This act mainly addressed special provisions on civil law concerning distributive shares, the establishment of systems for deferred tax payments such as inheritance tax, and expansion of financial support during business succession. Hence, the enactment of this act mainly served to raise interest in the inheritance of assets and debt. However, this is not all that is involved in business succession. It requires a long-term process starting with the selection and grooming of successors and ending with post-succession management. Smooth business succession is important to maintaining and improving the vitality of small- and medium-sized enterprises. Out of concern for these problems, the Japan Finance Corporation Research Institute conducted this survey of small- and medium-sized enterprises funded by Japan Finance Corporation (JFC), for the purpose of determining the outlook for business succession and future issues. In the course of this survey, question items were prepared consisting of topics such as business summaries，business status，current manager attributes，business succession from predecessors，future business succession, thoughts on future size of business, providing an overall picture of business succession in small- and medium-sized enterprises. Furthermore, it is felt that there are differences in outlook and issues depending on company size; therefore, in the report, an analysis was conducted around company size. |
| Data Type | quantitative research: micro data |
| Universe | Small- and medium-sized enterprises funded by Japan Finance Corporation (JFC) |
| Unit of Observation | Organization |
| Sample Size | Sample size: 24,569 companies, number of valid responses: 9,397 companies (valid response rate: 38.2%) |
| Date of Collection | 2009/07/01 |
| Time Period | |
| Spatial Unit | |
| Sampling Procedure | |
| Mode of Data Collection | Mail survey (anonymous) |
| Investigator | Japan Finance Corporation Research Institute |
| DOI | |
| Sponsors (Funds) | |
| Related Publications (by the Investigator) | Please refer to the abstract in Japanese. |
| Related Publications (based on Secondary Analysis) | List of related publications (based on Secondary Analysis) |
| Documentation | 【 Questionnaire 】 |
| Major Survey Items |
(1) Business overview - Current management style - Percentage of stocks current managers hold - Main business-related real estate holdings (2) Business status - Family employees who share the same household income，full-time executive officers and regular employees，number of part-timers and casual part-timers (arubaito) - Latest annual sales figures - Current debt balance with lending institutions - Business status for past five years (sales, performance compared to other companies in same industry, number of employees) - Future prospects of the business for the next 10 years - Types of transactions in last five years (3) Current manager attributes - Current age - Age at the time of succession to manager - Gender - Presence/gender/number of children - Number (generation) of predecessors including current manager (4) Business succession from predecessor - Relationship of the current manager and predecessor - Whether current manager is a relative of the company founder - Age of predecessor at the time of succession - Succession timing - Business status immediately prior to succession (performance compared to other companies in same industry, number of employees) - Whether or not respondent has work experience/experience in the current field after graduating from school before becoming the manager and the number of years of experience - Circumstances of current manager succeeding business - Length of period to prepare as a successor candidate - Types of steps taken by predecessor for smooth succession and the most useful steps - Type and extent of management resources passed on by predecessor - Involvement of predecessor in company management after business succession - Managerial actions taken after business succession and resulting difficulties - Recent performance and number of employees compared to the time of business succession (5) Future business succession - Whether a successor has been chosen (Question items if successor has not been chosen) - What to do if no successor is found (sell-off of company for business succession, desired business assets to hand over) - Reasons successor not chosen - Reasons for the plan to close business without handing it over to the next generation - Reasons the person respondent wants to be a successor does not accept it - Current manager’s relationship to the person he or she wants to be his/her successor - Number of years left to officially choose successor (Question items if successor chosen) - Relationship of successor and current manager - Whether successor and company founder are relatives - Current age of successor - Age of successor at the time he or she accepted it - Scheduled time of succession - Current employment status of successor - Main advisors on business succession - Whether it is desirable to make own child a successor - Successor training method, time period, number of years - Types of skills demanded of successor - Extent of steps taken to train successor at present - Types of critical steps for smooth business succession - Possible problems with business succession (Regardless of whether successor chosen/not chosen) - Thoughts on future size of business |
| Date of Release | 2010/10/06 |
| Topics in CESSDA |
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| Topics in SSJDA | Economy/Industry/Management |
| Version | |
| Notes for Users | Variable and value labels are written in Japanese. |