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

Why Family Business Strengths Can Become Weaknesses in a Crisis

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

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

by Clemens Krüger, Christian-Titus Klaiber, and Reinhard Prügl / Research Insight

A study of German family firms shows that regular, meaningful contact between the family office and the family can preserve shared purpose after an exit. 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...

Helping Daughters Become Successful Family Business Leaders

by Simon Caspary and Tom Rüsen / Applied and Practice

Daughters can become strong and credible successors when families involve them early, clarify authority, support professional development, and make room for new models of leadership. 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...

by Joseph Astrachan and Claudia Binz Astrachan

How to Run a Family Business Successfully

by Kerry Hannon

Things to Consider When Transferring Family Business Ownership

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

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

by Klaus Lüber and Nadine Kammerlander

Outside Leadership Can Save the Family Business

by Robert Sher