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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 council: preventative medicine or surgical intervention?
If we were to apply medical terminology to the realm of family-owned firms, our first observation would be that all families run the risk of contracting “diseases” and sustaining “injuries.” When the family also owns a business, however, these risks are substantially higher. No business family is “immune” to these risks, which when left unchecked, […]