Our Latest Articles

May 12, 2025 - Issue #142

Business Families Must Get Real About Growth and Payouts Sometimes the family grows much faster than the business, especially in saturated markets. This has deep implications for how we manage family and business expectations.

Nonfamily CEOs Are Most Vulnerable in the Middle Stage of Their Tenure Family businesses tend to give all CEOs time to prove themselves, but are tougher on outsiders who don’t deliver results after a few years.

Family Firms: The Time to Learn About AI is Now Like the telephone or the internet, AI is here to stay, and we need to learn how to work with it.

Can a Female CEO Lead to More Diversity at the Top? At family firms, decisions are often shaped by traditions, preferences, or informal dynamics that are not easy to override, even for the CEO.

ESG Essentials For Family Firms ‘ESG is an existential issue. Businesses that don’t demonstrate their commitment to sustainable practices could be punished by consumers, the media and even regulators.’

The Emotional Toll of Selling Your Business

Using Humble Language Can Drive Market Success Businesses in trouble can reap benefits by displaying humility – but the rules differ for family and non-family firms.

Your CEO Affects How Outsiders Perceive Your Brand Family or non-family leader? Your choice depends on the age of the firm, and can ultimately affect how the media and outside stakeholders see you.

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More Than an Entrepreneur: How Best Buy Founder Dick Schulze Saves Lives

The Emotional Downside of Exiting Your Business

All-Time Greats: Announcing Our Wetherbe Award Winners

Family Leaders: Can Your Business Still Sail Without You?

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Recent

5 Practical Tips for Making Business Decisions With Family Members

by Rostyslav Vovk / Commentary

Running a family business doesn’t mean always seeing eye to eye, but you can still overcome challenges, resolve conflicts, and evolve as a team. Read more...

A New Way to Resolve Extreme Conflict in Family Businesses

by Doug Baumoel and Blair Trippe / Applied and Practice

Family members may feel “trapped” in conflicts, unable to resolve substantive issues without damaging their familial relationships. This often leads to disputes that persist for decades. Read more...

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...

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

Outside Leadership Can Save the Family Business

by Robert Sher

How to Run a Family Business Successfully

by Kerry Hannon

How Family Dynamics Shape Family Businesses

by Joseph Astrachan and Claudia Binz Astrachan

Retirement Options and their Consequences for Small Business Owners

by Valeria Alterman and Ariane Froidevaux