Our Latest Articles

September 18, 2023 - Issue #97

Will Your In-Laws Help or Hurt Your Family Business? Will Your In-Laws Help or Hurt Your Family Business? As the Gucci and royal families show, in-laws can complicate things. Here's how family businesses can benefit from their perspectives and minimize conflict.
Why Family Businesses Must Mind the (Generation) Gap Why Family Businesses Must Mind the (Generation) Gap Older leaders should be curious about how next-gens view the world, and younger leaders-to-be should have patience with their elders and honor what they've created.
What If a Hedge Fund Invests in my Family Business? What If a Hedge Fund Invests in my Family Business? At many publicly traded firms, the presence of activist investors forces them to innovate. This didn't hold true at the family businesses we studied.
Founders: Let Next-Gens be Entrepreneurial Founders: Let Next-Gens be Entrepreneurial Rania Labaki, a professor at the EDHEC Business School in France and director of its Family Business Center, says that founders must allow their future leaders to have an entrepreneurial spirit.
Attract and Retain the Best People As You Grow Attract and Retain the Best People As You Grow Small firms growing into midsized need a new approach to talent. Give current employees the skills they need to help you grow, and make your firm a desirable place to work.
The Paradox of Choice: Wealth's Impact on Family Potential The Paradox of Choice: Wealth's Impact on Family Potential We tend to think that opportunity serves only to increase available choices. But when we think more broadly, it’s not hard to see how increased opportunity can also limit choice.
Small and Medium-Sized Firms Are Less Prepared for Crises Small and Medium-Sized Firms Are Less Prepared for Crises Research found that they often lack the resources to assess their risk and plan for the worst -- putting their financial health at risk when disaster strikes.
Kimberly Eddleston What to Do When It's Your Turn to Lead Kimberly Eddleston

Your relatives spent years, maybe decades, building a business, and now it's your turn to take over. Fear and self-doubt are normal. Here's how to take over the reins with confidence.

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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...

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How Family Dynamics Shape Family Businesses
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by Susan Lanz, Gary Burke, Kajsa Haag, and Omid Omidvar
Editorial offices located at St Thomas University

Editorial offices located at St Thomas University

Popular
'Family-Owned' or 'Family-Run'? The Words You Use Can Affect Customer Trust
by Sabrina Finkbeiner, Jan-Philipp Ahrens, Christoph Burmann, and Michael Schade
Consumers Love Local Brands. That's Good News For Family Businesses
by Philipp Jaufenthaler, Andreas Kallmuenzer, Sascha Kraus, and Alfredo De Massis
Supported by the Richard M Schulze Family Foundation

Supported by the Richard M Schulze Family Foundation