A thorough explanation of how family enterprises work The family enterprise, whether an operating business, a family office, or both, is the backbone of the US and international economies. These enterprises cut across industries and geographies and can be first-generation entrepreneurial companies or multi-generational businesses with family offices. This book offers a foundation in and understanding of how family enterprises work, including working definitions and the key characteristics of family enterprises, as well as useful concepts for working with and in family enterprises, either as a professional or as a family member. Written by the experts at the Family Firm Institute, a global network of professionals, educators, researchers, and owners of family enterprises An ideal resource for professionals in law, finance, management, and behavioral science, family office and fund managers, and others interested in an multidisciplinary approach to this field

Finding the right successor to a well-loved founder or president is often the most difficult task an organization faces-and the challenge is even greater for family-run businesses. From mom-and-pop grocery stores to vast multinationals, family-owned companies dominate the worldwide business landscape, yet surprisingly few are successfully passed down from one generation to the next, and fewer still reach the third generation intact. Author Ivan Lansberg, an organizational psychologist who grew up in a family business, explores the reasons behind this high failure rate, and reveals the conditions that allow family businesses to endure through the generations. Family enterprises are highly personal, says Lansberg, and many elaborate succession plans are thwarted because deeper psychological factors are overlooked. Lansberg stresses the need for families to share a common "dream" for their company, much like a business has a unified mission. Succeeding Generations helps us to understand all aspects-the practical and the emotional-of the succession process, as Lansberg offers advice on how to mentor successors, how to set up a systematic selection process, and how to make the best use of the board of directors during times of transition. He also provides the first clear assessment of the different options, from direct successions between a parent and a single appointed heir to more complex partnerships between siblings and cousins. With a wealth of examples from companies in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America, Succeeding Generations provides a thoughtful and comprehensive look at the sensitive dynamics of leadership succession in family businesses. Planning for continuity is a life-long process for families in business, and Succeeding Generations is the first book to provide in-depth answers to the questions that arise at every stage in the evolution of the family firm.

The Soul of Family Business by Tom Hubler takes readers on a journey throught the heart and soul of family business. Using case studies from his more than thirty-five-years as a family business consultant, Hubler explores what it takes to run a successful family business, illustrating how love is the foundation and family values are the secret sauce for success.

This book is a longitudinal story of seven Italian-Australian family business dynasties, spanning over a hundred years across three generations, and starting with the founding generation who migrated to Australia in the first half of the 20th century. With hard work and sacrifices, they set the foundations of a long-lasting family culture, and the values that form the glue of a multigenerational family business. The book focuses on the personal, family, and business values that keep family members, across generations, continuing to engage together and successfully, as a family and a business. The book elaborates on the complexity of ‘what is a family business’, what it represents for the generational members that are part of it, how these family businesses have emerged, consolidated and expanded, and finally, how they continue to survive into the third generation, enabling the dynasty to flourish.

The SAGE Handbook of Family Business captures the conceptual map and state-of-the-art thinking on family business - an area experiencing rapid global growth in research and education since the last three decades. Edited by the leading figures in family business studies, with contributions and editorial board support from the most prominent scholars in the field, this Handbook reflects on the development and current status of family enterprise research in terms of applied theories, methods, topics investigated, and perspectives on the field′s future. The SAGE Handbook of Family Business is divided into following six sections, allowing for ease of navigation while gaining a multi-dimensional perspective and understanding of the field. Part I: Theoretical perspectives in family business studies Part II: Major issues in family business studies Part III: Entrepreneurial and managerial aspects in family business studies Part IV: Behavioral and organizational aspects in family business studies Part V: Methods in use in family business studies Part VI: The future of the field of family business studies By including critical reflections and presenting possible alternative perspectives and theories, this Handbook contributes to the framing of future research on family enterprises around the world. It is an invaluable resource for current and future scholars interested in understanding the unique dynamics of family enterprises under the rubric of entrepreneurship, strategic management, organization theory, accounting, marketing or other related areas.

Provides real world studies of the family in business, by observing typical firms rather than dynasties. It looks at how the nature of family business is changing in our times and provides insight into the lessons we can learn from this. The book focuses on the impact for the professional non-family manager.

This BDO Stoy Hayward Guide to the Family Buisness is intended as a guide for those involved in family business, or those contemplating joining one, to help them identify and resolve the family-related issues that are potentially so destructive.