Family And Friends - Publications - Faculty & Research

Teaching Interest

Demystifying the Family Enterprise

This course is primarily designed for students who are pursuing a career in family run businesses, family owned businesses, investment roles in family offices, or students that might invest in or wholly purchase a family owned business through a private equity firm,... View Details

July 1999 (Revised July 2007)
Background Note

Preparing Family Business Cases

By: John A. Davis

Advises students on how to prepare and discuss a family business case. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Business Education; Cases; Family Ownership; Research

Citation

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October 2001 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Blethen Family and the Seattle Times Company (A), The

By: John A. Davis and Cathy Quinn

Frank Blethen, the fourth-generation publisher of The Seattle Times, ponders the challenges facing this family business. This case reviews the long history of this business and family and asks whether family ownership and management are in the interests of both the... View Details

Keywords: History; Management; Business or Company Management; Family Business; Family and Family Relationships; Family Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Journalism and News Industry; Journalism and News Industry

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01 Nov 2024
News

Brains, Brawn, and Family Offices

September 2023
Technical Note

Note on Family Constitutions

By: Christina R. Wing

Less than half of family businesses will survive generational transfer. While sometimes this is due to operating company issues, in many cases it is because of conflict within the family. Many families create and adopt a family constitution to proactively mitigate... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Policy; Organizational Structure; Family Ownership; Conflict Management; Agreements and Arrangements

Citation

Educators

09 Mar 2021
Cold Call Podcast

A Family Business at a Crossroads: Scaling and Succession

Keywords: Re: Christina R. Wing; Real Estate

01 Oct 1997
News

Graduate's Gift Honors HBS Friend

friends and family members of both men attended a gathering at the School last May. De Rothschild and Anderson offered remarks, as did one of... View Details

Keywords: Nancy O. Perry

Program

Families in Business

Summary Family enterprises must strive for growth amidst fierce competition, an evolving marketplace, and demanding customers. But family enterprises also face a unique set of... View Details

Research Summary

Family Business Dynastic Success

Davis is also completing a several year study of successful family business dynasties, examining the management, ownership and family practices that help to perpetuate successful businesses and families. He is developing a book for Harvard University Press on this... View Details

21 May 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Do Friends Influence Purchases in a Social Network?

Keywords: by Raghuram Iyengar, Sangman Han & Sunil Gupta; Technology

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 in business can benefit from this activity. Family council... View Details

01 Jul 2012
News

Winning friends in new places

01 Jul 2011
News

Whether to Shutter a Struggling Family Business

February 2010
Article

Friend or Foe? Cooperation and Learning in High-Stakes Games

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Joel Waldfogel and Matthew White

Keywords: Cooperation; Learning; Games, Gaming, and Gambling

Citation

Find at Harvard

January 15, 2015
Article

Surviving in a Family Business When You're Not Part of the Family

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

Navigating office politics in a family-owned business can be challenging for non-family executives. Based on experience with various business families worldwide, this article offers strategies for success:

Play in your room: Non-family executives should... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Family and Family Relationships; Employees; Problems and Challenges; Talent and Talent Management

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Article

Family Rituals Improve the Holidays

By: Ovul Sezer, Michael I. Norton, Francesca Gino and Kathleen Vohs

Rituals are central to family life. Three studies (N = 1098) tested the relationship between family rituals and holiday enjoyment and demonstrated that family rituals improve the holidays because they amplify family closeness and involvement in the experience. In Study... View Details

Keywords: Happiness; Behavior; Satisfaction; Family and Family Relationships

18 Apr 2016
Blog Post

Meet the HBS Family Business Club

The mission of the Family Business Club (FBC) is to bring together students with family business backgrounds to facilitate discussions and conversations about their experiences... View Details

1 Aug 1972
Conference Presentation

Communes, The Family and Sex Roles

By: R. M. Kanter

Keywords: Civil Society or Community; Family and Family Relationships; Gender

Citation

01 Mar 2023
News

Family Matters

driven by their desire to pay it forward for others. In addition to being the beneficiary of the Forward Fellowship, Thompson-Woode received the Barbara and Edmund A. Hajim (MBA 1964) Fellowship for students who are first in their View Details

Keywords: April White