Special Issue: Your Relationships

February 13, 2023 - Issue #83

A New Way to Resolve Extreme Conflict in Family Businesses 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.

Managing Emotional Minefields Within Family Businesses We're all only human -- but preventing outbursts in front of customers and other non-family members preserves your reputation and relationships with stakeholders.

Too Much Love in the Family Can Hurt Strong family relationships are good for business, but being too insular will blind the family to great ideas from the outside and actually hurt return on equity.

Getting Along: Straight Talk from a Family Business Veteran Trust people. Walk around a lot so you meet more non-relatives. And don't show off your new car when the firm is tightening the belt.

'Performance-Enhancing Vices': Good for Business, Bad for Relationships Advisor and author David Werdiger talks about the business benefits and personal drawbacks of being selfish and stubborn.

Divorce Can Hollow out a Family Business — But it Doesn’t Have to It’s surprising how many business-owning families fail to properly plan for this worst case scenario. Here's advice from two experts about protecting the business.

Family CEO Burnout: How to Prevent, Recognize and Deal With It How can leaders keep themselves from getting worn down or recognize burnout in themselves? And what should family members do if they see their leader struggling?

How Family Business Leaders Can Encourage Both Devotion and Performance Family firms should use HRM practices that balance collaboration and monitoring for best results.

'Let’s Not Go There...' Taboos in Family Business Many families dare not discuss certain topics because they want to preserve the illusion of harmony and unity. But these taboo topics are bound to erupt sooner or later.

Are Your Family and Business Thriving Together - Or Undermining Each Other? Like organisms in nature, the relationship between family and business can be mutually beneficial or detrimental. Here's how to strengthen both spheres.

Families Can Overcome Generational Conflicts Over Technology A study of Italian firms shows how differences can be resolved, so the company can honor tradition and still make progress.

What Families in Conflict Can Learn from Baseball and Teachers Using a hybrid of mediation and arbitration offers a real chance to preserve family relationships during a difficult period of conflict.

Family Emotions Can Drive Business Decisions Because personal and business dynamics are so closely intertwined, private disagreements and personal histories inevitably spill over into the business.

How Family Firms Can Prevent (or Cool Down) Sibling Rivalries Koch Industries, McCain Foods and Robert Mondavi were all roiled by sibling battles. These three strategies will help you prevent it.

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Women Can Help Family Firms Innovate – but Socioemotional Factors Matter

6 Questions to Ask Before Creating a Family Business Board

Before You Create a Family Office, Prepare the Next Generation

Why Family Businesses Shouldn't Always Listen to Wall Street

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Recent

Selling the Family Business? Prepare the Family for What Comes Next

by Susana Quintás / Applied and Practice

A business sale changes more than ownership. Families must also rethink governance, roles, wealth, identity, and purpose after the company is gone. Read more...

How Family Business Succession Shapes Innovation in the Next Generation

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

Research on 16 family businesses reveals why some successors build on the previous generation’s innovations while others rarely or never innovate. Read more...

When Political Differences Threaten the Family Business

by Paul Edelman / Practice Insight

Political differences can turn dangerous when family members begin dismissing one another’s business judgment based on political identity. Read more...

Why Every Family Business Leader Needs a Peer Group

by Justin Smith / Applied and Practice

More than 300 peer-group meetings show what happens when family business leaders have a trusted place to talk with people who truly understand their challenges. Read more...

by Joseph Astrachan and Claudia Binz Astrachan

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

by Klaus Lüber and Nadine Kammerlander

5 Practical Tips for Making Business Decisions With Family Members

by Rostyslav Vovk

Things to Consider When Transferring Family Business Ownership

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

Will Your Family Brand Survive New Leadership?

by Meghan Lynch

How Family Businesses Can Avoid Conflict Between Family and Business Roles

by Kerry Hannon