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 Is a Family Business Leader Too Old?

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

A False Sense of Urgency Helps Neither Family Nor Business

by Joseph Astrachan and Claudia Binz Astrachan / Practice Insight

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...

The Next Generation Can Help the Family Firm Innovate

by Richard Schulze and Ritch Sorenson / Commentary

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...

How Founders Can Stay Relevant When the Next Gen Takes Over

by Kimberly Eddleston / Interviews

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...

Single Family Offices as Owners: Long-Term Investors or Financial Optimizers?

by Joern Block, Reza Fathollahi, and Onur Eroglu / Research Insight

The capital structure of a firm determines its financial viability and creditworthiness. Families should understand how ownership influences this structure. Read more...

by Jonas Ruzek and Kimberly Eddleston

How to Plan for a Successful Succession

by Richard Eisenberg

Family Business Stories Build a Legacy For the Next Generation

by Kimberly Eddleston

How Family Dynamics Shape Family Businesses

by Joseph Astrachan and Claudia Binz Astrachan

How to Run a Family Business Successfully

by Kerry Hannon

Family Business Succession: Your Questions Answered

by Kimberly Eddleston and Mat Hughes