Special Issue: Sibling Rivalry

June 26, 2023 - Issue #92

'Succession' Hits Close to Home at Family Firms A family business advisor finds more than a few similarities between the HBO hit and real families. This issue shows how to minimize the rancor.

Advice for Untangling Conflict in a Family Business Janme Sinha of Boston Consulting Group talks about how soft emotional issues and hard business issues can tear families apart.

How Family Dynamics Shape Family Businesses Want your family business to run more smoothly? Examine your own relationships with parents, siblings and other relatives -- and talk to one another often.

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.

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

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.

Lessons From the Perdue and Sheraton Families on Getting Along Mitzi Perdue, author of a book about family businesses and widow of Frank and daughter of a Sheraton Hotels founder, shares lessons about family harmony.

How to Fix Succession Conflicts Stemming From Complicated Families Warring ex-spouses, far-flung families...Part 2 of our two-part series looks at how to fix succession challenges that are already underway.

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.

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Recent

Define Your Legacy, and Strengthen Your Business and Your Impact

by Matthew Fox, Kimberly Wade-Benzoni, and Jeffrey Covin / Research Insight

Unless you clearly define what you want your legacy to be, your successors will interpret it in their own way -- and it might not be what you intended. Read more...

The World is Changing Faster Than Your Strategy

by Torsten Pieper, Claudia Binz Astrachan, Francesco Chirico, and Annika Ehlers / Research Insight

Families that learn to use their cohesion, trust, and long-term orientation as strengths can implement strategies more effectively than their non-family peers, especially in times of uncertainty. Read more...

Listening to the Family: The Strategic Value of Surveys

by Claudia Binz Astrachan / Practice Insight

Surveys can reveal differing perspectives, surface hidden tensions, and – when done well – build trust, and serve as an educational opportunity. Read more...

Planning Succession? These 10 Decisions Are Critical

by David Deeds / Applied and Practice

Succession is not a single choice -- It is a chain of choices that interlock and compound. Avoiding any one of them will create friction or ambiguity. Read more...

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

How to Plan for a Successful Succession

by Richard Eisenberg

Here Are the Next Gen's Biggest Worries

by Kimberly Eddleston

Why Families and Their Firms Behave Badly

by Roland Kidwell, Kimberly Eddleston, Linda Kidwell, John Cater, and Ellison Howard

Family CEOs May Encourage More Innovation Than Non-Family Leaders

by Mario Daniele Amore, Morten Bennedsen, Bordin Bordeerath, and Nicolai Foss