Abstract
We examine how female successors in German family firms use succession as a catalyst to reframe innovation. Drawing on a qualitative multi-case study of seven German Mittelstand businesses and a Gioia-inspired analysis, we identify four ideal-typical innovation logics: heritage-anchored regeneration, mission-driven sustainable stewardship, systemic professionalisation and regeneration, and purpose-driven decoupling and re-coupling. Each logic represents a distinct configuration of risk, time, and impact, revealing female successors as proactive innovation leaders rather than reluctant heirs. The study advances research on gendered succession, extends family-firm innovation theory by showing how socioemotional wealth and stewardship underpin regenerative innovation paths, and proposes “risk-time-impact” logics as a transferable lens for analysing succession-led innovation in family and non-family firms alike.