William J. Rothwell, Ph.D., SPHR, SHRM-SCP, CPLP Fellow, is President of Rothwell and Associates, Inc., a full-service consulting company that specializes in succession planning. He is also a Professor of Learning and Performance in the Workforce Education and Development program, Department of Learning and Performance Systems, at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park campus. In that capacity, he heads up a top-ranked graduate program in learning and performance. He has authored, co-authored, edited, or co-edited 300 books, book chapters, and articles-including 64 books. Before arriving at Penn State in 1993, he had 20 years of work experience as a Training Director in government and in business. As a consultant, he has worked with over 50 multinational corporations--including Motorola, General Motors, Ford, and many others. In 2004, he earned the Graduate Faculty Teaching Award at Pennsylvania State University, a single award given to the best graduate faculty member on the 23 campuses of the Penn State system. His train-the-trainers programs have won global awards.

Robert K. Prescott, Ph.D., SPHR, SHRM-SCP, has spent twenty years in industry and twenty-two years in teaching and consulting positions. Included in Bob's rich experiences is work in Corporate Engagement at the College of Continuing Studies at The University of Alabama, Graduate Faculty of Management at the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, Director of Executive Education at Penn State and Director of Human Resources for BellSouth Communications, Inc.

His consulting initiatives have placed him in advising and teaching positions with such organizations as AAA, ARAMARK, Deloitte, Delphi Automotive Systems, Estee Lauder, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Lockheed Martin EIS, The National Basketball Association (NBA), Olive Garden Restaurants, Pitney Bowes, Scholastic Book Fairs, The Social Security Administration, T Mobile, UNICEF, Walt Disney World and the U.S. Army. His extensive international work has been with companies such as Corporación Elite, Ecuador, Grupo Industrial de Monclova, Mexico, Mavesa de Venezuela, Minerven, Mota-Engil, Portugal, and the Bermuda Employers Council.

In both corporate and academic settings, Bob has taught graduate level courses in the Executive Doctorate, MBA and Masters of Human Resources (MHR) programs and business application training in the areas of strategic leadership, agile leadership, organization behavior, influence strategies, human resource management, supervision, and enterprise consulting. He is a native of Birmingham, Alabama, holds a B.S. in Marketing from the University of Alabama and a Ph.D. in Workforce Education and Development from The Pennsylvania State University. Bob co-authored the books The Strategic Human Resource Leader: How to Prepare Your Organization for the 6 Key Trends Shaping the Future (Davies-Black, 1998), HR Transformation: Demonstrating Leadership in the Face of Future Trends (Davies-Black/SHRM, 2009), and the Encyclopedia of Human Resource Management - Volume One (Wiley, 2012).

Part I Deciding What to Do: Life and Career Planning for Small Business Owners and Family Leaders

Chapter 1: Considering Your Choices

Part II Planning for Succession in Small and Family Business

Chapter 2: Strategic Planning for Succession Sustainability

Chapter 3: Recruiting a Successor from Inside, Outside, or Utilizing Other Options for the Organization

Part III Special Issues in Small and Family Business Succession Planning

Chapter 4: Family-Owned Business Dynamics and Politics

Chapter 5: What Psychological Challenges Affect Small and Family Business Succession?

Chapter 6: Questions and Answers about Legal Issues in Small and Family Business Succession

Chapter 7: Valuing the Small and Family Business for Succession Planning

Chapter 8: Questions and Answers about Financial Planning Issues in Small and Family Business Succession

Chapter 9: Talent Management in Small and Family Businesses

Chapter 10: Transitioning the Business and Executing the Succession Plan

Appendix I Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Appendix II Resources About Small and Family Business Succession Planning