Our Latest Articles
//May 07, 2021 - Issue #31
10 Golden Principles to Guide Your Succession Planning While every family business is different, these guidelines can help most firms smooth out the succession process and maintain family relations as a bonus.
Succession: Don't Assume Your First-Born is the Anointed One Companies that appointed a second- or subsequent-born child as their next company leader enjoyed a better return on assets than those who picked the first-born, our research showed.
Beyond Succession: Family Firms Need a Legacy Plan Too A family venture can thrive if its values are passed along to the next generation. Defining those values is the first challenge.
Daughters prepare to lead family firms Daughters are increasingly assuming leadership roles at family firms. In this video, two future business leaders talk about family expectations, their worries, their hopes for the future and the importance of knowing their value. 
Successful Successions are Never Smooth The people involved expect the conflict, view it as natural and do not let it get in the way of things. Here are four tips for the big handoff.
Surprising reasons owners exit family businesses Concentrate less on succession planning and more on managing conflict and making the firm profitable.
Playing the Succession Game to Ensure Family Business Continuity Game theory provides a mathematical way to look at sibling competition and its emotional costs -- and suggests insights for achieving the best outcome. 
Dennis Jaffe on Managing Transition A thought leader in the world of family business shared his thoughts in Forbes on how to manage the shift to the next generation of leadership.
Recent events in the US Presidential race have focused many on the question: When is someone too old to lead? Here's how family firms can think things through. Read more...
Rushed decisions tend to lead to bad outcomes. So does avoiding decisions because we’re afraid of conflict. This framework helps businesses think realistically about decision urgency. Read more...
Best Buy Founder Richard Shulze and Ritch Sorenson of the University of St. Thomas explore the opportunities that come with a changing of the guard. Read more...
A family business advisor says a change in leadership is like passing the baton in a relay race. Don't let go too abruptly. Read more...
Editorial offices located at St Thomas University
Supported by the Richard M Schulze Family Foundation