Learning in the Classroom and Beyond
//August 21, 2023 - Issue #96
Family Business Professors: 34 Ways to Energize Your Class These free classroom exercises, interviews and other resources will add new energy, fun and inspiration to your students' course work.
Why Don't You Educate Your Owners? Everyone agrees that families should train members to become competent owners and stewards of the family business – but few of them actually walk the talk.
Videos for the Global Family Business Community These videos share best practices that help business owners, professors and students become more resilient. 
Learning How Family Business Leaders Make Decisions Through Interviews This exercise allows students to apply core family business concepts to a real-world business context, reinforcing their grasp of the course materials.
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.
What All Family Businesses Can Learn From the Merck Family The Germany-based global health care, pharmaceutical and performance materials firm has kept its vast family ownership team aligned for 13 generations.
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. 
Developing Competent Owners and Stewards for a Lasting Family Business Educating family members to become such competent, responsible stewards of the family enterprise is a responsibility, and not a choice.
Assessments Can Help Develop Family Business Leaders From simple surveys or interviews to complex, statistically robust reporting, assessments give current and future leaders a source of objective data for better decision-making.
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
Recent
Employees With Toxic Traits Can Still Be An Asset at Family Firms
by Benjamin McLarty and Daniel T. Holt
/ Research Insight
The emotional connection that families have with their companies can encourage good performance -- even from employees with narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. Read more...
'Performance-Enhancing Vices': Good for Business, Bad for Relationships
by Kimberly Eddleston and David Werdiger
/ Commentary
Advisor and author David Werdiger talks about the business benefits and personal drawbacks of being selfish and stubborn. Read more...
Family History Can Be Repurposed to Serve Today's Challenges
by Christina Lubinski and William Gartner
/ Research Insight
Family firms often frame their history as a tale of generations (e.g., first, second, third – generation). This approach has become so ingrained in how we think about family and organizational Read more...
Governments Must Encourage Family Enterprise Growth
by R. Adam Smith
/ Commentary
Governments must recognize family firms' extensive impact on local, national, and even international communities, and have policies that support their continuity. Read more...
Trending
How Family Dynamics Shape Family Businesses
by Joseph Astrachan and Claudia Binz Astrachan
The Biggest Mistakes Family Businesses Make With Their Boards
by Kimberly Eddleston
Retirement Options and their Consequences for Small Business Owners
by Valeria Alterman and Ariane Froidevaux
How to Run a Family Business Successfully
by Kerry Hannon
How Do Owners of Family Business Portfolios Restructure Poorly Performing Firms?
by Marina Palm, Vanessa Diaz Moriana, and Nadine Kammerlander
How to Plan for a Successful Succession
by Richard Eisenberg
Editorial offices located at St Thomas University
Popular
Single Family Offices as Owners: Long-Term Investors or Financial Optimizers?
by Joern Block, Reza Fathollahi, and Onur Eroglu
Helping Next-Gens Envision Their Family Firm’s Future Success
by Nadine Kammerlander and Friedrich Kammerlander
AI Won't Replace Innovators and Fresh Thinking
by Robert Buday
Should Your Next CEO be From Outside the Family?
by Kimberly Eddleston
Family Business Succession Planning: 10 Golden Rules
by Tom Rüsen, Torsten Groth, and Arist von Schlippe
Should I Participate in a Business Accelerator?
by Jon Eckhardt
Supported by the Richard M Schulze Family Foundation