Family Business
Juste Group, strategic renewal in the family business
Inés Juste presides the Juste Group, a chemical-pharmaceutical company founded by her great-grandfather more than a century ago. In its fourth generation, the firm is a global reference thanks to its entrepreneurial spirit, innovative character and vocation for continuity between generations. The Juste Group was established in 1922 by my great-grandfather Rafael Juste Castán. A…
Family Business
The power of women in family business
Today is March 8, International Women’s Day. On this day, the world comes together to shine a spotlight on the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, as well as the obstacles that continue to undermine gender equality in the workplace and other critical domains. First, some good news: there have been significant strides…
Family Business
Family enterprises are outstripping the global economy
According to the 2023 EY and University of St.Gallen Family Business Index, the largest family enterprises are growing faster than the global economy: 10% compared to the world's 6%. Once again, the Index highlights the huge contribution of the world’s largest 500 family enterprises as a global economic driver. How the largest family enterprises are…
Family Business
Why Building Trust Benefits Your Company
Trust has been the crux of economic exchanges since the creation of the world’s first marketplaces millennia ago. While several research studies have focused on trust in bilateral relationships, less is known about its broader social and economic ramifications and the specific role of family businesses. In this Forbes article, IESE Prof. Jeroen Neckebrouck shares…
Family Business
Two of the most common mistakes made by family-owned firms
In my last post, I offered five strategies that family firms should follow if they have hopes of long-term survival. Today, the focus is on two of their most common mistakes, which can also make life much more complicated for their top leaders. (1) Bringing family members into the fold It’s not unusual for founders…
Family Business
Family or firm: which comes first in family business?
This isn’t a very useful question in my view. It’s one that can lead us down the wrong path and even to erroneous decisions that generate conflicts that could have been easily avoided. It reminds me of another inane question that I’ve seen adults pose to young children: Who do you love more, Mom or…
Family Business
The ripple effect of trust and the family firm
When searching for a new supplier, investor or manager, what’s your number one criterion? Industry reputation? A core metric? Economic cost or benefit? While all relevant criteria, there is another that trumps them all: trust. Defined in academic literature as the willingness of one party to be vulnerable to the actions of another, trust has…
Family Business
The link between family firms and their stakeholders
Global organizations are increasingly integrating stakeholder opinions and ESG objectives in their corporate purpose, an approach that family businesses have been applying for decades. In this recently published Harvard Deusto article, I explore the essential role of purpose and why it should be viewed through a strategic lens: Profundizando en la relación entre empresas familiares…
Family Business
5 essential rules for overcoming challenges in family firms
As I explored in a recent article published in the Harvard Deusto Business Review, prosperous family businesses owe their success to adhering to the following five essential rules: 1 - Treat the business as a business and the family as a family 2 - Foresee changes to avoid surprises 3 - Implement structures for nearly…
Family Business
¡HOLA! A window on the world since 1944
Eduardo Sánchez Pérez (PADE ’20) is the editor-in-chief of ¡HOLA!, Spain’s first society magazine and a pioneer in premier photojournalism. In this article, he shares the history of this pathbreaking publication, founded by his grandparents in 1944. The origins of ¡HOLA! can be traced back to the love story between my grandparents, Antonio Sánchez Gómez…
Family Business
Family businesses have a talent-acquisition advantage
According to a recent PwC survey, next-generation leaders of family firms see talent acquisition, management, and retention as a key priority in the next two years in the wake of Covid-19 impacts and the subsequent labor market moves. In this Harvard Business Review article, the authors explore the pivotal role of talent acquisition in the…
Family Business
Opening the door to new possibilities
The start of the new academic year invites us to open our minds in the broadest sense – to new ideas, people, projects and ways of working that inspire us personally and motivate our teams and organizations. In the realm of family business, several dualities reflect this sense of expansiveness: legacy and future, tradition and…
Family Business
External stakeholders: 3 ways to boost engagement
Guest contributor: Sumeet Malik Assistant Professor · University of Amsterdam / Entrepreneurship & Innovation Section 2021-2022 Post-Doctoral Fellow · IESE Chair of Family-Owned Business From investors and regulators to customers, external stakeholders are critical to the long-term success of family firms. They buy their products, regulate their operations, and provide their means of operation by…
Family Business
Family business is P2P
We often hear about B2C and B2B business models, but let’s not forget P2P, or the “person to person” model. Year after year, my interactions with family firms confirm the importance of placing people at the heart of decision making. People should always be the top priority, which applies not only to family business, but…
Family Business
Annual Report 2021-22
As Aristotle said, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and this is certainly true of IESE’s Chair of Family-Owned Business. Looking back on the academic year, I could not be more pleased with the team's accomplishments and contributions toward advancing the practice and knowledge of family business. We hope you enjoy…
Family Business
Trust and family firms: what do we know?
Recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, castells are human towers whose origins date back to the early 18th century in Catalunya. At a recent teambuilding event with other IESE faculty, I had the chance to discover their history – and experience first hand! – what it takes to build a castell. They…
Family Business
The family in business
Family businesses always have an owner family as the shareholder of reference. This is the family that defines the company’s purpose and transforms family values into corporate values. This is the family that serves as a beacon of unity and commitment, transmitting a sense of corporate stability and long-term continuity. Hence, the importance of developing,…
Family Business
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…
Family Business
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 Business
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…