The Evolving Role of Family Enterprise Boards
An audio interview with Kristi Daeda who leads the governance practice with The Family Business Consulting Group.
Myth: The goal of any family business is to maximize Profits
A case: One beautiful, sunny day, Edward, 73, sat back at his desk and assessed his life. He was living the dream—with one exception. He had several homes, a devoted second wife, and he spoke with his best friends every day. However, his business was failing. Over the past ten years, he had hired many of his best friends to lead various divisions of his manufacturing company, and Edward and his GMs were having a ball. The company manufactured sporting goods that he and his friends used all the time. Unfortunately, the
Are the Myths Your Clients Believe about Value Hurting Their Family Business?
Your clients are savvy business owners. But are some of the beliefs they have about the value of their operations holding them back? See if these sound familiar.
Four Classic Definitions of "Role"
In preparation for the August series on “Myths & Realities: Roles and Their Overlap,” The Practitioner explores the topic of “roles” in a broader context.
Don’t Be an Expert — Listen like a cow!
Listening like a cow? What does this metaphor mean to family enterprise advisors? Read the article by Grant Thornton’s Annika Hall as she explain the benefits of “listening like a cow!”.
Myth & Reality: Why all the fuss over family business? Ask the Wall Street Journal!
Thanks to this week’s blogger Mary Daugherty of the Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas for another contribution to our myths and realities series.
Bloodline
Thanks to FFI Fellow Ron Drucker for the latest in “blogs from the Fellows” for his review of the Netflix thriller “Bloodline” — a family business saga with implications for practitioners.
Base of the Pyramid, Circular Economies & Sustainability Mindset of Executives
This issue is a blog from The Practitioner highlighting Base of the Pyramid, Circular Economies, and a framework for assessing the “sustainability mindset of executives”.
Five Areas of Focus are Key for Family Business Success
Family businesses have always been an important part of our social and economic fabric, accounting for more than two-thirds of all companies around the world and 50% to 80% of employment in most countries.
A Case Study: Marrying into the Family Business: Strategizing complex dynamics
The third of three cases on topics relevant to family enterprise advisors and their clients, “Marrying into the Family Business: Strategizing complex dynamics” by Judith Coche, provides insights and resources on this topic from a behavioral science perspective.
Now If Only Every Family Business Was a Fairy Tale!
A really fictional case for this issue! Thanks to Asher Noor for “Now If Only Every Family Business Was a Fairy Tale!” And for reminding the readers that fiction is usually not stranger than truth!
The 500 Largest Family Firms in the World
This week’s issue is an article on several key, and often surprising results, from the “Global Family Business Index,” compiled by the University of St. Gallen and EY Global Center for Family Business Excellence.
Research Applied: FBR Précis for the Practitioner
Continuing our quarterly series of “Research Applied,” The Practitioner features précis applicable to practitioners from four articles in the June issue of the Family Business Review.
Sustaining the Family Business with Minimal Financial Rewards: How do family farms continue?
Despite tending to generate less than average returns on investment, almost a third of family farm businesses in the UK have operated in the same area for more than 100 years.
Family Social Capital, Trust within the TMT, and the Establishment of Corporate Goals Related to Nonfamily Stakeholders
The authors conducted a study to analyze how structural and cognitive family social capital influences the establishment of corporate goals related to nonfamily stakeholders (EGNFS) in family firms.
Implications of Family Business Employment for Employees’ Innovative Work Involvement
In this paper, the authors shed light on the likelihood that being employed in a family business is conducive to employees’ innovative work involvement.
The Effect of Organizational Characteristics on the Appointment of Non-Family Managers in Private Family Firms: The moderating role of socioemotional wealth
Research Applied précis prepared by John L. Ward, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University When and why do family firms hire, or not hire, non-family executives?
The Role of the Attorney Comes Full Circle
There was a time when a lawyer was considered the “consigliere” to the family and its business.
Tout the Family Ties as Part of the Brand
Myth: Family businesses are small businesses run by the seat of their pants. As such, they should do their best to keep that fact hidden, not promote it, and certainly not incorporate it into their brand.
Riding the Shirtsleeves: Deconstructing a foundational family business myth
As I prepared a presentation, the chair of the financial services firm cautioned me, “Please, don’t start with the shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves story; we’re sick of it”.