Our Latest Articles
//December 21, 2020 - Issue #20


Editor's Pick
Sherri Noxel
'Letting Go'
Oregon winery entrepreneur Susan Sokol Blosser is one of the founders of Oregon’s wine industry and a prolific writer. In “Letting Go” she captured the very personal and painful journey of exiting a family business that she founded. It’s the type of honest book about succession that is hard to find. Her first book, “Gracious and Ruthless: Surprising Strategies for Business Success,” shares her point of view as a woman founder in a traditionally male industry.
http://www.susansokolblosser.com


Family businesses are a thriving economic engine, but many struggle to make it from one generation to the next. This article deconstructs what makes them viable for the long term.

Venerable family firms that have been successful through the decades still must innovate. Here is how the leader of one Dutch firm balances tradition and modernization.
While more than a quarter of small businesses have closed, some are doing surprisingly well, as this New York Times article points out.
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...
Family business mergers enjoy greater harmony and better financial performance than mergers involving non-family firms. Read more...
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...
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...

Editorial offices located at St Thomas University

Supported by the Richard M Schulze Family Foundation