Abstract :
The purpose of this research is to develop a constructivist grounded theory of ethnic Chinese (Chinese-Indonesian) family Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on how incumbents cultivate successors to acquire transgenerational entrepreneurship for the longevity of their businesses. As part of a family member in a Chinese-Indonesian family SME, the researcher discovered there are transgenerational concerns revolving around the transfer of leadership, knowledge, and skills from first to second generation. Extant literature also showed the lack of scholarly theorizing about managing succession of family SMEs in Indonesia, especially the Chinese-Indonesians’. The uniqueness of this particular ethnic group is not only because it is the largest Chinese population in the world residing outside of China, but also they have been known to control 70 percent of country’s economy even though constituting just 3.5% of the population. Another unique phenomenon is they are often still been regarded as outsiders regardless of the duration of stay. Data of the emergent theory is gathered by theoretical sampling of experts, family business incumbents and successors, along with opportunistic sampling of the siblings and a non-family. Besides source triangulation, this inductive research also incorporates multi-method design triangulation. Finally, the theory integrates the construction of the emerging concepts inclusive of their explanatory propositions and idiosyncrasies.