The Knowledge Centre NoorderRuimte conducts practice-oriented research into the built environment in the Northern Netherlands. In Oldambt, a region in the northeast of the province Groningen, it was observed that the current demographic, behavioural and economic development causes a low business succession …

From the preface : The European Commission supports Member States by providing them with recommendations, guidelines, information and good practices. For years, the European Commission has stimulated Member States to develop matching platforms to efficiently support sellers and buyers of SMEs in …

Combining overview studies and adding own qualitative research on top of that, a questionnaire is developed to operationalize quality of digital matching platforms for sellers, buyers and advisors in SME business transfers and acquisitions

This literature study reviews 300 academic publications on digital matching platforms, SME business transfers and the underlying drivers for success in matching and business transfers. How to build digital trust, how to select partners digitally and how to predict survival of digital matching platforms …

Letting go of the firm or “my baby” as some entrepreneurs describe their creation, leads to a certain amount of stress (Rahim 1996, Kets de Vries 1999). Dealing with stress in singular events as the transfer of a business, is hardly been subject of research (Uy et al. 2012). Improving coping strategies …

Every year I talk to many entrepreneurs about business transfers and acquisitions. Only rarely do they tell me that it was a cinch. Buying or selling a business is complex. For a start, a business should be shipshape from an organizational and administrative perspective, while several legal and fiscal …

Different types of strategic renewal by the successor are identified: organizational change, innovation, combined actions and no action. The main assumption is that renewal after succession improves SME post-transfer performance compared to no actions taken. Also successor’s timing of the takeover is …

The main purpose of this dissertation is to identify the factors that explain success and failure in SME business transfers. Three key concepts have been defined in the research framework: firm resources, capabilities (of predecessor and successor) and (successor’s) strategic renewal. Altogether these …

The EU and national governments rely on expert panels and opinions for their policies (EU, 2003; EU, 2006a; EU, 2006b) on SME ownership transfers. Also entrepreneurs depend on expert opinions and advice. We know from expert studies that expert judgment may lead to confusion and conflicting results. …