Co-author: Uzay Sezer This article was co-written by Uzay Sezer. Holder of a PhD in Business Administration and Management from Università Bocconi, his research explores family firms, corporate governance and incentive designs. On March 16, IESE’s Madrid campus welcomed renowned scholars, business leaders and investors for the 2026 IESE CCG-ESGI Conference, “Family Firms: Purpose, Economic Performance […]
The family council, a means and not an end
Guest contributor: María Rodríguez García Predoctoral Researcher and Lecturer · Universitat de València Visiting Researcher · IESE Chair of Family-Owned Business The family council as a concept began gaining traction in the 1990s, when consultants and academics highlighted its relevance in terms of protecting the business family’s long-term interests and navigating potential family complexity. Under […]
“It’s time to challenge the status quo at family businesses”
How can future leaders of family firms act as responsible stewards of their family legacy while also serving as catalysts for necessary change? This ESG by PwC article explains the need for next-generation leaders to prioritize ESG factors in order to build their own legacy: It’s time to challenge the status quo at family businesses […]
Pedro Durán, the royal silversmith
Juan Miguel Albarracín Durán is the president and CEO of Grupo Durán, a jewelry company founded by his great-grandfather over 135 years ago. Our company was founded in 1886 by my great-grandfather Pedro Durán Morales, a silversmith by profession. In 1899, he was named an official supplier to Spain’s royal family, a significant milestone at […]
Family CEOs: aging and conservatism
According to popular wisdom, people tend to get more conservative as they age. But is this actually true? And if so, how does it impact CEOs and the organizations they lead? If we look to previous research, business leaders indeed show a tendency toward risk aversion as their corporate careers wind down, favoring quick wins […]
Succession, the monumental question
The topic of succession has a long history and has never been limited to the exclusive domain of family business. Putting it into perspective can give us a deeper understanding of its importance in all organizations, both family- and non-family-owned. After writing this post, I thought it was perhaps more suited to an academic readership, […]
Purpose is strategy
According to Grant F. Reid, CEO and president of Mars, “Performance without purpose is meaningless, and purpose without performance is not possible. It’s the magic combination.” For Mars CFO Claus Aagaard, “Private ownership provides a great platform to live our purpose as we can do the right things and faster without the worry of the […]
3 distinct approaches to collaborative philanthropy
As the literature on collaboration clearly notes, the less structured and defined a collaborative mission, the greater the importance of superordinate social concepts like shared values, shared purpose and shared perspectives to ground these partnerships. Since these superordinate dimensions are based on relatively stable psychological beliefs and individual constructs, it is even more important to […]
ElPozo: from a local shop to a worldwide reference
An entrepreneur by vocation, Tomás Fuertes has been working for the business holding company he presides for over 60 years. Today, Grupo Fuertes is a global reference in the agri-food sector with operations in 118 countries with 100% Spanish capital. When I talk about Grupo Fuertes, I always say we’re a hybrid project: the combined […]
Family business and globalization
My colleague Prof. Marta Elvira asked me if I could write about family business and globalization. I do so with pleasure but with the fear that some readers might find my conclusions disappointing. In this post, I won’t refer to large corporations but to medium-sized companies, defined by the European Union as firms with revenues […]
What’s the link between purpose and the bottom line?
A clear purpose drives results. These are the words of Claudine Gartenberg, a Wharton School professor and co-author of one of the largest studies ever conducted on corporate purpose. According to Prof. Gartenberg, purpose is “a set of beliefs about the meaning of a company’s work beyond quantitative measures of financial performance.” In a recent […]
