Family - Publications - Faculty & Research

06 Aug 2012
News

Family Offices Seeing Fastest Growth as Firms Oust Banks

20 May 2014
Research & Ideas

Managing the Family Business: Survival’s Secret Sauce

But long-term success-even for a family company-can be explained in a rather simple, straightforward way. Here are some high points to consider. Grow Every Generation In order to stay alive commercially as a family, you must grow your... View Details

December 26, 2018
Article

Why Family Businesses Need to Find the Right Level of Conflict

By: Josh Baron

Many families avoid conflict because it makes them uncomfortable. For families that own and manage businesses, this is a problem. Conflict avoidance leads people to avoid difficult–but necessary–conversations and decisions. Instead of avoiding conflict, the people who... View Details

Keywords: Management Skills; Conflict and Resolution; Family Business

Aug 06 2019
Testimonial

Emphasizing the Business in Family Business

July 9, 2013
Article

Why Fights Erupt in Family Businesses

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

Lack of boundaries and formal structure create potential for nasty (and lasting) disagreements. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Conflict and Resolution; Organizational Structure

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01 Sep 2013
News

Connell Family Gift Funds Curriculum Innovation

Terry and Margot Connell In memory of William F. Connell (MBA 1963), his widow, Margot, and the Connell family have donated $10 million to HBS to establish the Margot and William F. Connell Family MBA... View Details

Keywords: William F. Connell (MBA 1963); Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

August 2007
Background Note

Assessing and Enhancing Individual Power in the Family Business System

By: John A. Davis

Describes how to asses and enhance an individual's bases, sources, and levels of power in a family business system. Relies on Franch and Raven's framework that identifies five bases of social power (reward, coercive, legitimate, referent, and expert), describing how... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Family and Family Relationships; Situation or Environment; Power and Influence

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01 Jun 2004
News

Greenhill Family Gift Enhances Global Research

four continents. In recognition of the School’s leadership role, Gayle and Robert F. Greenhill (MBA ’62) have donated $15 million to establish the Greenhill Family Endowment for Global Research to support a broad range of international... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

19 Nov 2014
News

Helping family businesses succeed and thrive

For more than 25 years, Philippe de Gaspé Beaubien (MBA 1954) and his family foundation have been enabling others learn how to manage successful family-run businesses. (Published November 2014) View Details

28 May 2019
News

In My Humble Opinion: Family Dynamic

As CEO of Indonesia’s Sintesa Group, Shinta Widjaja Kamdani (OPM 31, 2002) is the third generation of her family to lead the highly diversified holding company that began as a rubber plantation in 1919. Kamdani had been at the company for... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Offices of Other Holding Companies; Management

01 Dec 1999
News

Hawes Family Funds New Classroom Building

had invested in was struggling, Hawes's sense of obligation to his investors took him and his family to Tampa to work with the failing enterprise. "It took us a year and a half," he recalled with characteristic enthusiasm, "but we fixed... View Details

18 May 2020
News

Create a Culture of Generosity and Communication in Your Family Business

October 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

MDH Partners: Evolving a Family Legacy

By: Christina R. Wing and Sarah Mehta

This case is about succession planning for MDH Partners, an Atlanta-based industrial real estate investment firm founded in 2005. When Jeffrey Small, Jr. cofounded MDH Partners, he named the company in honor of his grandfather, Mark Durward (MD) Hodges, an early... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Business Ventures; Ownership; Business Exit or Shutdown; Family Business; Management Succession; Personal Development and Career; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States; Georgia (state, US); Atlanta

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March 2012
Case

The Agnellis and Fiat: Family Business Governance in a Crisis (A)

By: John A. Davis, Bernardo Bertoldi and Roberto Quaglia

After the death of Umberto Agnelli in 2004, the Agnelli family, led by John Elkann, needs to decide whether to keep Fiat CEO Giuseppe Morchio. The Fiat Group is in a delicate financial position, and John Elkann, the new family leader, is untested in this role. The... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Family Ownership; Management Teams; Leadership; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Italy

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