Our Latest Articles

January 13, 2025 - Issue #133

Articles About Relationships, Succession Were Top Draws in 2024 Many readers wanted advice about handling toxic family relationships, managing succession, and preserving the family’s values over time.

Transferring Family Wealth to the Next Generation: What’s Fair? Trillions of dollars are about to be handed down from baby boomers to younger generations. Family firms must consider how to transfer their ownership shares, and to whom.

Family History Can be Re-Framed to Encourage Harmony and Progress The goals of the family and the business are often at odds. Family history can inspire bold and necessary steps that are still in harmony with the family’s image of itself.

Include the Extended Family in Your Ownership Strategy Your ownership strategy should consider that in future generations the family firm will likely have many more owners. Take a broader focus when you develop it.

Hiring Mom and Dad? Optimize Their Strengths and Manage Boundaries Sharon Beck, owner of a Jovie Childcare franchise, shares her insights on the benefits and challenges of being your parents' boss.

Protect Your Family Business From Crime In crime-prone regions, activities like selling in physical stores, regular trips to the bank, and talking openly about business growth can make business owners targets.

The HERO Model: How Family Enterprise Leaders Can Accelerate Change Hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism can make us better people and better leaders. This article explores how we can cultivate it within ourselves.

How Boards Help Complex Family Firms Make Sound Decisions Fiduciary boards keep family firms focused on the long term, rather than on short-term, tactical strategies. But many family firms resist having one, fearful of losing control of their enterprise.

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Family Ownership Can Undermine Financial Health

The 7 Gears of Leadership, And When to Use Each One

Invite Your Next Gens to Leadership

Things to Consider When Transferring Family Business Ownership

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Recent

Family Firms: Building Resilience Across Generations

by Douglas Hassell and Kimberly Eddleston / Applied and Practice

Building on three specific attributes -- long-term orientation, social capital, and values-driven governance -- helps families build strengths for generations to come. Read more...

Here Are the Next Gen's Biggest Worries

by Kimberly Eddleston / Interviews

Many want to know where they will fit in the family enterprise; how the wealth will be divided; and how the business will be governed as the family grows in complexity. Read more...

Will Your Successors See Themselves as Heirs or Entrepreneurs?

by Ganlin Mia Li, Bingbing Ge, and Junsheng Dou / Research Insight

Mentoring plays a huge role in shaping how the next generation views the role of family business leader, a study in China shows. Read more...

Family Business Leaders' Fear of Failure Can Inhibit Next Gens

by Seyyede Sharare Bagherian, Sonia M. Strano, Sohrab Soleimanof, Jon Carr, and S. Alireza Feyzbaksh / Research Insight

When parents openly display fear of failing, it can unintentionally portray entrepreneurship as unsafe, undesirable, or even shameful. This doesn't help their successors or the business. Read more...

by Ritch Sorenson

Let the Next Generation of Family Firm Leaders Chart Their Own Path

by Klaus Lüber and Nadine Kammerlander

How Family Dynamics Shape Family Businesses

by Joseph Astrachan and Claudia Binz Astrachan

A Charismatic Family Business Founder Can Be a Tough Act to Follow

by Kimberly Eddleston

What Family Firms Can Teach Us About Work-Life Balance

by Jennifer Jordan and Peter Vogel

Why Families and Their Firms Behave Badly

by Roland Kidwell, Kimberly Eddleston, Linda Kidwell, John Cater, and Ellison Howard