Publications

02 Oct 2016
Blog Post

Peek Weekend: The Family Business Cohort

sporadically since then, starting with small tasks when I was younger and growing into larger roles like 2D and 3D design now that I’m a senior design student at the University of Cincinnati. With graduation... View Details

May 18, 2020
Article

Create a Culture of Generosity and Communication in Your Family Business

By: Christina R. Wing and Rohit K. Gera

The phrase “family business” is made up of two very different words: “family,” which calls to mind warm, fuzzy feelings around love, joy, and support, and “business,” which is measured in money, profits, impact, and assets. We put the two words together, and often, use... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Organizational Culture; Communication

March 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

The Parisian Revival

By: Rajiv Lal and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In mid-2005, George Jones had two jobs: head of Saks Inc.'s 41-store Parisian department store chain as well as president and CEO of the Saks Department Store Group (SDSG), an umbrella for seven chains with a total of 182 stores across the United States. In 2003 Jones... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Improvement; Sales; Retail Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

14 Jul 2009
Research & Ideas

Business Summit: China in the Global Economy

business in China will face challenges such as an underdeveloped infrastructure, unfamiliar business structures, and limited skills among middle-... View Details

Keywords: Re: William C. Kirby

October 2022
Case

An Heir with No Spare: The Deitch Family Office

By: Lauren Cohen and Grace Headinger

Joe and Matt Deitch, father and son, knew it was time to start their own family office. Matthew had recently joined his father at the family’s three enterprises, and they both realized that their family’s needs had grown increasingly complex over the years. In search... View Details

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

Web

Augustine Heard & Co.: Building a Family Business - A Chronicle of the China Trade

chance of success than at home. — John Heard reflecting on his first trip to China in 1841, from his diary, 1891 4 Augustine Heard & Co.: Building a View Details

18 May 2020
News

Create a Culture of Generosity and Communication in Your Family Business

04 Aug 2014
News

Market Basket Shows the Best and Worst of Family Business

18 Nov 2011
Conference Presentation

The Role of the University in the Development of the Family Business Field

By: John A. Davis

Keywords: Family Business; Higher Education; Growth and Development

07 Nov 2019
News

The Future Of Education In Family Business Leadership And Tips To Get Started

October 2012 (Revised December 2013)
Case

Urbanizing China

By: Lakshmi Iyer and G.A. Donovan

In 2012, China attained a historic development milestone with more Chinese citizens living in cities than in the countryside. China's rapid urbanization, and the accompanying conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural uses, raised a number of economic, social,... View Details

Keywords: China; Urbanization; Industrialization; Property Rights; Local Government Finance; Social Protest; Business Environment; Food Security; Safety; Change Management; Food; Urban Development; Social Issues; Growth and Development Strategy; Public Administration Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; China

December 2001 (Revised March 2003)
Case

Ben Fiorentino: Selling the Family Business

The caseescribes the challenges Ben Fiorentino, the second-generation head of a family-run equipment business, must deal with as he decides whether and how to sell the business. The business is encountering classic problems that confront family-owned firms: The third... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Negotiation; Business Exit or Shutdown; Management Teams; Agency Theory

April 2017
Case

China Hospitals Inc.: The Growth of Private Hospitals in China

By: Kevin Schulman, Xiao Yu and Ariel Hwang

This case examines the privatization of hospitals in China. China Hospitals, Inc. has become the largest for-profit hospital company in China, purchasing government owned hospitals in Tier 2 cities. The case profiles CEO Frank Hu. To build his company, he has to... View Details

Keywords: Privatization; For-Profit Firms; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Health Industry; China

12 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

The Three Components of Family Governance

There are three components to family governance: Periodic (typically annual) assemblies of the family; all families View Details

October 2020
Case

Genomics in the Family Office

By: Lauren Cohen, Ronnie Stangler and Spencer C. N. Hagist

Alice Anane is the member of a large, wealthy family that collectively operates a multi-pronged family business in Israel. Upon discovering partway into her pregnancy that the rapidly degenerative brain disease her father succumbed to now threatens her and potentially... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Health Disorders; Strategic Planning; Corporate Governance

March 2014 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector

By: William C. Kirby and Erica M. Zendell

Teach For China was founded in 2008 with the mission of expanding educational opportunity across China. By 2013, Andrea Pasinetti's lofty dream had taken flight: over 300 graduates from top American and Chinese universities were participating in its 2-year teaching... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit; China; Business And Government Relations; Business And Poverty; Business And Society; Emerging Market Entrepreneurship; Emerging Market; NGO; Education; Entrepreneurship; Social Enterprise; Emerging Markets; Non-Governmental Organizations; Nonprofit Organizations; Education Industry; China