Sooner or later, all family businesses face succession processes. Ideally, these are founded on professional criteria and approved by both predecessors and successors. The lack thereof is an all too frequent mistake and the most common source of conflict in family-owned firms. Movie: YES. Ongoing series: NO A generational handover should be framed as a…

Family firms are integral to the global economy, driving positive change by pursuing both financial objectives and the generation of socioemotional wealth (SEW). Developed by Prof. Luis Gómez-Mejía, socioemotional wealth in family firms encompasses a number of non-economic factors including family control, values, legacy, transgenerational vision, pride of belonging and emotional connection. The dual role…

Among their unique characteristics, family businesses pursue both financial goals and non-economic aims such as preserving the family legacy and promoting community development. This dual perspective can lead to misalignment among family members regarding organizational priorities, while raising important questions: How should family firms integrate divergent perspectives in their decision-making processes? What’s the best structure…

* This article originally appeared in the newspaper "Expansión" on May 4, 2024 under the title "Llegan tiempos de mudanza y oportunidad para la empresa familiar." Family firms require solid corporate governance in order to maintain their relevance as engines of growth and employment. Spain’s corporate world has garnered global media attention in recent weeks…

The Family Business Reflection Forum co-organized by IESE's Chair of Family-Owned Business and the Instituto de Empresa Familiar continues to give us plenty to talk about. In the first of this three-part series, Prof. Marta Elvira highlighted the core benefits of strategic alliances as engines for growth, which Prof. África Ariño brought to life in…

Judith Viader is the general manager of Frit Ravich, a second-generation company specialized in the manufacture of chips, snacks and nuts, and snack-food distributor with over 1,000 employees, exports to 27 countries and €302 million in net sales in 2023. Frit Ravich is a family business founded in 1963 by my father, Josep Maria Viader,…

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…

Guest contributor: África Ariño Professor of Strategic Management · Holder of the Joaquim Molins Figueras Chair of Strategic Alliances · IESE As explored in the first article in this series on the conclusions drawn at the Family Business Reflection Forum, strategic alliances enable two or more companies to share resources and capabilities to either undertake…

Family businesses are economic motors and drivers of social cohesion around the world, which is why it’s important to better understand their impact on diverse stakeholder groups. To learn more, I encourage you to read the new white paper “Vínculos profundos: un análisis riguroso sobre las relaciones entre las empresas familiares y sus stakeholders” (Deep…

In today’s fast-paced global environment, growth isn’t an option for family businesses: it’s an imperative to ensure their long-term success and continuity. This reflection and the role of strategic alliances were in the spotlight at the first Family Business Forum for Reflection, organized recently by IESE and the Instituto de Empresa Familiar. This article, written…

Shareholders often span different generations in long-consolidated family firms, and not all play an active role in the business. In these cases, family assemblies are a vital conduit to bringing people together and up to date on the company’s activity and strategy. Family assemblies aim to bridge the divide between family members on the front…

Constantin Conrad (MBA-18) and Charlotte Conrad Palermo (PMD-23) share their experiences as third-generation leaders of the Leschaco Group, a global logistics service provider with operations in 24 countries and €1.2 billion in annual revenues. The origins of our family business date back to the late 1940s, when our grandfather Herbert Conrad joined Lexzau Scharbau as…

In my last article published in October 2023, I raised the issue of external directors by saying they could either be independent or not. It’s not a question of how much they’re paid, as some people think: it’s far more complex and multidimensional than that. Let’s start by clarifying these two concepts. External versus independent…

Declining productivity is a constant concern for both governments and companies, especially small- and medium-sized ones. And it’s no wonder: private enterprises generate over 80% of jobs in developed countries, and 90% in developing economies. Many employers wonder if hybrid work formats are to blame for this decline, or at least struggle to define effective…

Numerous studies blame gender-based job segregation for the stubborn gender wage gap. However, women who do the same work as men in the same company are still not paid the same as their male counterparts. This El País article highlights the findings of my rececent study with Prof. Isabel Villamor on the primary drivers of…

Javier Cottet is the president of Cottet Óptica, a family-owned Spanish firm that traces its roots to the late 1800s in industrial France. In 2019, the company revitalized its business model with a more brand-centric and innovation-driven approach. I got my official start in the family business as an intern in the early 1990s, and…

Recent research by McKinsey confirms the adaptability, resilience and impact of family-owned firms, whose structures and best practices leave them uniquely equipped to navigate business challenges in uncertain times. According to the authors, family firms that combine four critical mindsets with five strategic actions have the capacity to quadruple their business value in the next…

With corporate responsibility gaining traction around the world, more and more business leaders are considering the ethical dimensions of management. Among global scholars, pension funding is one of the hot-button topics under review. Employee pension schemes are common in the U.S. and might soon expand in Europe, where governments are considering hybrid models to solve…

I recently had the great honor of interviewing Ibukun Awosika for IESE's This Is Real Leadership podcast. Ibukun Awosika has had a long and illustrious career as an entrepreneur, leader, speaker, former president of First Bank of Nigeria and author of several books, including The Girl Entrepreneur. In this episode, we discuss authentic leadership, decision-making…

The family council is the ideal forum for owner families to reach consensus on the core decisions regarding their business. It is the preventive mechanism par excellence to analyze, discuss and debate critical issues, and make solid decisions based on shared criteria and commitment. In this way, family councils serve as firewalls, preventing conflicts from…