Our Latest Articles

September 16, 2024 - Issue #126

How Do Owners of Family Business Portfolios Restructure Poorly Performing Firms? Families can get emotionally attached to laggards in their portfolios and avoid taking tough but necessary action, putting the entire enterprise in peril.

How Business Families Can Invest for Social Impact Business families have many ways to combine financial returns with philanthropy. The choice depends on their values, long-term goals and other factors.

Should Former Leaders Stay Involved in the Family Firm? The successor's readiness for the top role, and the firm's age and experience with previous successions, are main factors to consider.

With Women Directors, Strategy Disclosure Decreases Cost of Capital at Family Businesses Family firms face higher borrowing costs than non-family firms if they disclose strategic information, but having women on their boards helps them narrow the gap.

Storytelling Vividly Illustrates Your Family Business Values Passing on stories among family members from one generation to the next is one powerful way values can be passed through multiple generations without being reduced to meaningless words.

Family Firms Are Like Jenga

Renewing the Empire: A Family Firm's Succession and Refit Journey Next-gen leaders often have a clearer view of how the family business must change. The challenge is to preserve the culture and values while making change happen.

Academy of Management Honors FamilyBusiness.org Editor Kimberly Eddleston The award recognizes her role in launching and growing the world's leading website for supporting and educating family businesses.

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Governments Must Encourage Family Enterprise Growth

When Is a Family Business Leader Too Old?

I Banned Cell Phones In My Class: What Happened Next

A New Way to Resolve Extreme Conflict in Family Businesses

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Recent

Merging With Another Family Firm is Safer and Smarter

by Francesco Chirico, Robert E Hoskisson, Seemantini Pathak, and Massimo Baù / Research Insight

Family business mergers enjoy greater harmony and better financial performance than mergers involving non-family firms. Read more...

Unready and Unadvised: The Silent Crisis in Family Wealth Transfer

by Srbuhi Avetisyan / Practice Insight

A study of 13,500 family firms shows that nearly half of heirs don’t know where the assets are -- and 3 in 5 wouldn’t know what to do if the founder died suddenly. Read more...

AI Adoption in Family Business: Balancing Trust and Tech

by Doug Gray, PhD / Practice Insight

Using AI can be risky in settings where confidentiality is key, but it can be indispensable in developing innovative services that clients expect. Here's how to harness it safely. Read more...

A Family Council Can Help Larger Families Stay Connected

by Kimberly Eddleston / Interviews

Consider one if your family business has 15 or more relatives involved, or multiple generations. Read more...

by Ritch Sorenson

Consumers Love Local Brands. That's Good News For Family Businesses

by Philipp Jaufenthaler, Andreas Kallmuenzer, Sascha Kraus, and Alfredo De Massis

Retirement Options and their Consequences for Small Business Owners

by Valeria Alterman and Ariane Froidevaux

Outside Leadership Can Save the Family Business

by Robert Sher

Business Families Must Get Real About Growth and Payouts

by Joseph Astrachan and George Manners