Special Issue: Our Best Teaching Advice

September 13, 2021 - Issue #38

Want to Give Your Entrepreneurship Students Real-World Experience? Try Consulting Projects Students gain exposure to the inner-workings of a business, while entrepreneurs receive a fresh perspective, academic insight and assistance.

Future Family Business Owners Can Learn to Manage Conflict This classroom exercise dissects the five approaches to managing disputes, and their likely outcomes.

Team Exercise: How Parenting Styles Affect The Next Generation This experiential exercise is designed to enhance student learning about the four parenting styles and how they affect the dynamics within the family firm.

Confidentiality Agreements Promote Candor in Family Business Classes For students to share their own good and bad family experiences in a family business class, confidentiality is essential.

Real-Life Drama: Creating a TV Series Based on a Family Business From the "director's chair," students illustrate the challenges of the family firm, and what makes a good one.

To Engage Business Students, Roll Out 'the Barrels' A variation of the childhood "choose your own adventure books" improves understanding of succession planning, governance and ethics.

Videos for the Global Family Business Community These are challenging times for family businesses. These videos share best practices that help business owners, professors and students weather the crisis and manage what comes next.

Design Remote Learning to Help Students Feel Connected Done right, online teaching can help students actually engage more with their professors and with one another.

Learn to Defend Your Family Firm This classroom exercise helps future family firm members learn to anticipate outside threats to their business and defend it.

Search & Save Enter search below to create an easy reading list

Designing and Experiencing the Family Business Advisory

Acres of Diamonds: Advantages of Working in Your Family Business

Why Didn’t I Think of That? A Classroom Exercise for Developing Entrepreneurial Thinking

When a Family Business Faces a Crisis, Should the Founder Step Aside?

Popular Topics

Money

Financing, revenue, profits

Team

Staffing, succession, relationships

Manage

Best practices for running the business

Grow

Increase customers and revenue

Strategy

Making better decisions

Operations

How the best firms run

Recent

How to Let Your Child Lead the Family Business When You Disagree

by Dr. Benjamin Ritter / Practice Insight

Handing over a family business doesn't mean agreeing with every decision. Here are five ways to support your successor without undermining their authority. Read more...

The “Perfect Successor” Is a Myth: What Family Businesses Should Look for Instead

by Eric Liguori, Benjamin McLarty, Maria Bracamonte, Parker Ellen, and Michele Medina-Craven / Research Insight

Research suggests that education, experience, confidence, personality, and motivation can all shape family business succession. But none offers a shortcut to finding the ideal next leader. Read more...

Family Business Consultant or Coach: Which Do You Need?

by Doug Baumoel and Amanda Bell / Practice Insight

Coaches help individual family members grow; consultants solve problems affecting the entire family business. Learn when to hire each and how they can work together. Read more...

Multigenerational Consulting Teams Bring Wisdom and Fresh Insights

by Kimberly Eddleston / Interviews

Many family businesses facing a leadership transition to the next generation turn to advisors to help them create a plan and work through their differences. Multigenerational advisory teams can help. Read more...

by Klaus Lüber and Nadine Kammerlander

How Family Dynamics Shape Family Businesses

by Joseph Astrachan and Claudia Binz Astrachan

5 Practical Tips for Making Business Decisions With Family Members

by Rostyslav Vovk

How Family Business Succession Shapes Innovation in the Next Generation

by Ludovica Del Barone, Maria Annosi, Filomena Buonocore, and Evelyn Micelotta

Things to Consider When Transferring Family Business Ownership

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

Consumers Love Local Brands. That's Good News For Family Businesses

by Philipp Jaufenthaler, Andreas Kallmuenzer, Sascha Kraus, and Alfredo De Massis