Our Latest Articles

September 15, 2025 - Issue #150

Are Your Family and Business Thriving Together - Or Undermining Each Other? Like organisms in nature, the relationship between family and business can be mutually beneficial or detrimental. Here's how to strengthen both spheres.

Family CEOs May Encourage More Innovation Than Non-Family Leaders While professional non-family leadership may bring some advantages, the stability brought by family leaders may encourage employees to innovate without fear of failure.

Things to Consider When Transferring Family Business Ownership Family business succession involves transferring ownership as well as management. Family circumstances and past events lead to three types of ownership transfers.

Addressing Substance Use Disorders in a Family Enterprise When a family member struggles with addiction, the consequences can ripple throughout the firm and increase its risks.

What Family Firms Can Teach Us About Work-Life Balance Blurring work and personal lives can lead to stress and exhaustion. Family businesses do these four things to create healthier boundaries.

Will Your Successors See Themselves as Heirs or Entrepreneurs? Mentoring plays a huge role in shaping how the next generation views the role of family business leader, a study in China shows.

Hand Down the Family Business but Keep a Hand In Skip-generation entrepreneurship combines the wisdom of business founders with the energy and tech savviness of their grandchildren.

Outsource or Hire?

Are the 'Best Practices' All Wrong for Your Family Business? The best processes and systems come not from outside advisers and experts, but from how families actually live, relate to one another, and make decisions.

Family Culture Can Block (or Unlock) Innovation Low trust, resistance to change, and intergenerational communication gaps can prevent new strategies and collaboration from taking root.

Family Business Leaders' Fear of Failure Can Inhibit Next Gens 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.

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Why Family Business Founders Struggle to Step Back During Succession

Why Family Business Strengths Can Become Weaknesses in a Crisis

Can a Family Stay a Business Family After Selling the Business?

Helping Daughters Become Successful Family Business Leaders

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Recent

Fair Does Not Always Mean Equal: Ownership Decisions in Family Business

by Claudia Binz Astrachan, Lindsay Hardie, and Joseph Astrachan / Practice Insight

Families often struggle to decide whether shares should be divided equally among children or reflect leadership, sacrifice, and “sweat equity.” Read more...

Strong Family Businesses Think Short Term and Long Term at the Same Time

by Vanessa Diaz Moriana, Eric Clinton, Catherine Faherty, and Colm O'Gorman / Research Insight

In a crisis, family firms cannot afford to focus only on immediate survival or future legacy. The most resilient ones do both, drawing on past lessons, trusted relationships, and long-standing networks. Read more...

The Hidden Fault Lines That Threaten Family Enterprises

by Matthew Crudgington and Peter Vogel / Practice Insight

From death and divorce to disruption and disrepute: these 12 hidden risks can weaken family enterprises over time. Read more...

The Hidden Branding Risk for Family Businesses: The Family Becomes the Brand

by Philipp Jaufenthaler and Justin Scott / Research Insight

Research shows that when families promote their role in a business, stakeholders judge not only the company but also the family itself. Read more...

by Joseph Astrachan and Claudia Binz Astrachan

How to Run a Family Business Successfully

by Kerry Hannon

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

by Klaus Lüber and Nadine Kammerlander

How Leaders Can Transfer Their Great Instincts to Successors