The Development of an Entrepreneurial Legacy: Exploring the Role of Anticipated Futures in Transgenerational Entrepreneurship

摘要

Entrepreneurial legacies play an important role in transgenerational entrepreneurship, yet little is known about their nature and development. Through a multilayered analysis of narratives drawn from three generations of a single business family, we document that entrepreneurial legacies feature both stable and fluid elements, and that forward-looking components in family storytelling—which we refer to as “anticipated futures”—affect this dynamic character. We further show how such narratives can prompt, sustain, and disrupt entrepreneurship across multiple generations. Our findings offer insights that refine our understanding of entrepreneurial legacies beyond mere projections of the past through secondhand imprinting.