Our Latest Articles

January 19, 2026 - Issue #158

Announcing Our 2024-25 Schulze Awards Winners These awards recognize exceptional thought leadership, clarity of perspective, and the ability to bridge research and practice.

Families Can Overcome Generational Conflicts Over Technology A study of Italian firms shows how differences can be resolved, so the company can honor tradition and still make progress.

Preparing for the Next Generation Starts with Being Investor-Ready The most important investor may be your own successors. Investor readiness supports smooth transitions, builds trust, enhances enterprise value, and keeps strategic options open—whether you sell, recapitalize, or stay independent.

From 'Passing Down' to 'Building Up': Rethinking Values in Family Firms Rather than inherited like family heirlooms, values are shaped and re-shaped by interactions between the generations at the family firm.

Why Enterprising Families Need a Code of Conduct As Prince Andrew showed, one person’s behavior can become everyone’s problem. Families must set expectations, outline processes, and provide clarity before emotions take over.

How Business Owners Can Profit From the Power of AI 7 ways to use the game-changer to boost revenues, efficiency and enjoyment at work.

Rom-Coms Can Complicate Your Succession Planning Unrealistic depictions of the sacrifices and tradeoffs of family business leadership -- streamed repeatedly -- can color younger people’s attitudes towards taking the helm.

Managing Conflict

Will Your Family Brand Survive New Leadership? As trillions in family-owned companies shift to next-generation leaders, one critical asset is being ignored: the brand. Here’s why brand value—often nearly 20% of enterprise worth—erodes during succession and how families can protect it.

Your Investment Strategy Should Reflect Your Family Values and Goals A family investment policy defines how a family manages its collective financial assets in alignment with its shared values, goals, and risk preferences.

Cooperating with Competitors is Good Business in Japan In Japan, family businesses are encouraged to help one another for the benefit of their shared customers and their community. It has helped them survive setbacks and thrive.

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How to Weigh the Consequences of Selling the Family Business

A Family Illness Can Infect the Business, Too

Why PE Firms Want to Buy Your Family Firm (and Change it)

Give Future Leaders Exposure to Critical Roles

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Recent

New Family Business CEOs Must Claim the Seat, Not Just Inherit the Title

by Dr. Benjamin Ritter / Practice Insight

When a successor becomes CEO, the title may change overnight — but authority, identity and trust do not. Next-generation leaders must act like the CEO before they feel like one. Read more...

What Family Businesses in Africa Can Teach Us About Women Leaders

by Jan-Philipp Ahrens, Maria Giuseppina Bruna, Cinzia COLAPINTO, and Salam SAMI / Research Insight

Large family firms in countries such as Ghana, Kenya, and Madagascar show that women’s leadership can thrive when families widen their view of succession. Read more...

When Keeping the Business in the Family No Longer Makes Sense

by Allan Sandham and Isabell Stamm / Research Insight

A study of German family businesses showed that as intra-family succession becomes more difficult, families are increasingly open to selling — and intermediaries are emerging to help match owners with outside buyers. Read more...

Why Family Business Founders Struggle to Step Back During Succession

by Paul Edelman / Practice Insight

Founder resistance is often more complicated than control. Empathy can help families understand what founders are trying to protect — and what their continued involvement may be preventing. Read more...

by Susan Lanz, Gary Burke, Kajsa Haag, and Omid Omidvar

How Family Dynamics Shape Family Businesses

by Joseph Astrachan and Claudia Binz Astrachan

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

by Klaus Lüber and Nadine Kammerlander

5 Practical Tips for Making Business Decisions With Family Members

by Rostyslav Vovk

Helping Daughters Become Successful Family Business Leaders

by Simon Caspary and Tom Rüsen

The Hidden Fault Lines That Threaten Family Enterprises

by Matthew Crudgington and Peter Vogel