This week, we are pleased to share the first in a series of commentaries by members of the FFI 2086 Society about a recently released report sponsored by the group titled, “Professionalizing the Business Family: The Five Pillars of Competent, Committed and Sustainable Ownership.” Thank you to Patricia Annino for kicking off this series by sharing her reactions to the report’s findings and integrating real-life examples from her own professional experience.

Thanks to this week’s contributor, Morio Nishikawa, for providing this case study about the Seibu Group, a Japanese family-owned business that faced a variety of legal challenges beginning in 1993 as the country’s laws changed, and the company’s practices and protocols were not updated.

For advisors working with family business clients operating across multiple countries, it is important to keep informed about jurisdictional differences and how they could impact your clients.

Welcome to the first issue of FFI Practitioner in 2020.

With the new year around the corner and a new decade on its way, here is a look at the most popular articles in 2019. We’re pleased to say that, thanks to our outstanding contributors, we’ve never missed an issue this year! So in addition to these Top 10, please enjoy the other 42 articles that appeared in FFI Practitioner since last January.

This week, FFI Practitioner is pleased to share an article by Ashvini Chopra in which he discusses family constitutions from an Indian perspective.

How do we keep ourselves and our clients thriving during times of complexity and disruption? According to this week’s contributor, Eva Wathén, it comes down to resilience. Thanks to Eva for sharing this article, in which she presents the importance of taking your “strategic pulse.”

This week, FFI Practitioner explores the evolving topic of the role of women in family businesses. Thank you to this week’s contributor, Patricia Annino, for her article, which is based on her presentation at the 2019 Global Conference.

Thank you to this week’s contributor, Navneet Bhatnagar of the FBR Research Applied Board, for sharing his précis of “Listening to the Heart or the Head?

According to Mark Twain, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” In that light, we are pleased to share an article by Rochelle Mendelsohn that explores the reasons why family enterprises without a strategic plan should consider developing their first and outlines seven tips for advisors working with these organizations throughout the process.

At first, it seemed ridiculous – how could they possibly fill the shoes of their father, Greg, who built such a remarkable portfolio of commercial real estate holdings? And how would they ever figure out how to work together?

How have shifts in employee expectations and other pronounced societal changes impacted employee trust within family businesses?

This week, we are pleased to share the results of a research study on the succession strategies of select family-owned multigenerational German wineries.

Thanks to Guillermo Salazar, a member of the FFI IberoAmercian Virtual Study Group, for this article reflecting on the value of utilizing Family Diagrams in his consulting work with families over the years.

FFI Practitioner remains one of the most attractive publications in the field and we are pleased that our broad-based circulation continues to generate interest and awareness of key topics in the field by authors from around the word.

Thanks to this week’s contributor, Jerry Katz, Robert H. Brockhaus Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship at St. Louis University (SLU), for his interview with Mike Medart, a fourth generation family member of Medart Engine, for helping us understand what motivates a family enterprise member to make a gift to a university based family business program.

Thank you to this week’s contributor, Maya Prabhu of the FBR Research Applied Board, for sharing her précis of “The Effect of Value Congruence Between Founder and Successor on Successor’s Willingness: The Mediating Role of the Founder–Successor Relationship” – an article that appears in the September 2019 issue of FBR.

In this week’s edition, we feature an interview with FFI member and Miami conference presenter, Ross Ellenhorn, in which he discusses the paradigm shift that has, and continues, to reshape thinking on addiction treatment.

In today’s world, family business owners have a lot to worry about – from rising taxes to developing future leadership.

In this week’s FFI Practitioner, we are pleased to share a précis of “Multilayered Socialization Processes in Transgenerational Family Firms” – an article that appears in the September 2019 issue of FBR.