Truth be told, implementing and managing a board of directors in a family firm isn’t an easy task for a variety of reasons, including the unique nature of each family and company and its specific context and growth stage. Through my years of experience working with family firms, I have gathered several practical insights to […]
8 pillars of a professional board of directors
Robust corporate governance systems in family firms shouldn’t be any different than those in well-managed non-family firms – at least in theory. In practice, it’s another story. Boards of directors in family businesses have adjacent psychological and psychosocial dimensions, and disregarding these dynamics can easily lead to tensions among board members. During my tenure as […]
Family firms see their largest growth increase in 15 years
Family-owned firms reported their largest growth increase in 15 years according to the 11th PwC Global Family Business Survey, carried out across 82 countries between October 2022 and January 2023. Strong values, employee communication and digital capabilities are among the traits shared by top-performing family firms. PwC Global Family Business Survey Homepage image: Jonathan […]
Seven communication insights for entrepreneurial families
At the start of a new academic year, let me first extend a warm welcome to everyone! The Chair of Family Business team is back, with our batteries fully charged and ready to continue offering you new insights and ideas to boost your firm’s performance. For my first article of 2023-24, I would like to […]
2022-23 Annual Report
From academic sessions and new research lines to conferences and ongoing communications with our readers, the Chair of Family-Owned Business made important inroads in 2022-23 to elevate and advance the practice and knowledge of family-controlled firms. You will find all the highlights in our 2022-23 Annual Report, an overview of our team’s collective efforts to […]
Corporate governance in family firms
By their nature as family-owned, some family businesses think they can be more familiar and informal in their approach, and less commercial and regimented. This confusion can lead their operations to move in one direction and business formalities in the other. As a result, their corporate governance structures – shareholder and board meetings, for instance […]
How employee incentives drive innovation in family firms
Innovation is the name of the game in today’s hypercompetitive markets: in order to survive, companies need to continuously innovate their products, processes and operations. Based on conventional wisdom, family-owned firms are at a disadvantage in this regard, with risk aversion, conservative attitudes, organizational rigidity and limited capital commonly cited as obstacles to innovation. At […]
How family firms are guiding the sustainability journey
Stakeholder capitalism has gone mainstream with the rise of the sustainability agenda. For family businesses, the fundamentals of shared value are well-known and woven throughout the family capitalism business model. As explored in the newly released KMPG report “A Road Well-Traveled,” family businesses have a unique opportunity to take a leadership role in guiding others […]
The purpose of work: when productivity becomes a religion
Guest contributor: Carolyn Chen Sociologist · Author · Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of California-Berkeley · Co-Director of the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion Much has been written about the role of purpose in the realm of family business. But what happens when organizations take it too far? Prof. Carolyn Chen explores the […]
The (ir)resistible lure of joining the family firm
From small businesses to large-scale multinationals, most of the world’s enterprises are family-owned. For their heirs, joining the family business isn’t always a given, with many opting to develop their careers outside the organization. This article in The Economist touches on some of its pros and cons. The resistible lure of the family firm […]
Presenting our updated Chair webpage
We are happy to present our updated Chair webpage, created under the umbrella of IESE’s corporate site. In addition to showcasing our academic team and research lines, the new page includes links to our communications platforms (like this blog!), academic publications and corporate sponsors, Fundació Jesús Serra and Caser, whose generosity allows us to continue […]
