Publications

July 2005
Case

Family Governance at the Cousin Consortium Stage

By: John A. Davis and Courtney Sampson

Explains the governance system for the Eddy family, who own the Port Blakely Companies. Provides the viewer with an inside look at the running of the family council and family assembly meetings. Also provides a brief history and overview of the forestry and real estate... View Details

Keywords: Conferences; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Governance; Business History; Business or Company Management; Family Ownership

September 2011 (Revised November 2011)
Case

CP Group: Balancing the Needs of a Family Business with the Needs of a Family of Businesses

By: William C. Kirby and Tracy Yuen Manty

As a second generation business leader, Chairman Dhanin Chearavanont took over the family agribusiness company and built it to become a major diversified conglomerate in Thailand and expanded the business in SE Asia and China. While growing the business, he and his... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Family Business; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Conglomerates; Family Ownership; Growth and Development; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Thailand; China; Southeast Asia

05 Jun 2017
News

How to Make Friends by Asking Questions

12 PM – 1 PM EST, 17 Nov 2016
Webinars: Trending@HBS

Global Family Offices: Trends & Opportunities

Over the last few years, substantial growth in family offices (FOs) has resulted in their emergence as a significant investor class. There are an estimated 2,500 FOs globally, controlling $7+ trillion in assets; approximately 300 of these FOs manage over $5 billion... View Details

February 2022
Article

OMG! My Boss Just Friended Me: How Evaluations of Colleagues' Disclosure, Gender, and Rank Shape Personal/Professional Boundary Blurring Online

By: Nancy Rothbard, Lakshmi Ramarajan, Ariane Ollier-Malaterre and Serenity Lee

We propose and test a relational boundary-blurring framework, examining how employees’ evaluations of colleagues’ characteristics drive their decisions to connect with colleagues as friends online. We use a multi-method approach across four studies to investigate how... View Details

Keywords: Self-disclosure; Relationships; Employees; Internet and the Web; Boundaries

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25 Apr 2016
Blog Post

Attending HBS to Grow the Family Business

As a kid, Lauren Derse (MBA 2010) hit the family business jackpot. Her mom was the CEO and founder of—you guessed it—a chain of toy store franchises. After growing up in small town Massachusetts (and... View Details

17 Sep 2017
News

If you think everyone else has more friends than you do, you're probably wrong

29 Dec 2010
News

In Hard Times, Family Firms Do Better

2 PM – 3 PM EST, 02 Dec 2015
Webinars: Trending@HBS

Managing Family Strife: Market Baskets Lessons about Buyouts

You'd have to have been sleeping under a rock to miss the family war and media frenzy over Market Basket, the Boston-based, family-owned supermarket chain. The confrontation between two cousins (both named Arthur Demoulas) over control of the company was finally... View Details

October 2010
Background Note

Family Corporate Governance: A Brief Literature Review

By: Lena G. Goldberg and David Kiron

This note discusses competing theories of governance in family owned firms and focuses on agency theory, stewardship theory, and the sociological concept of embeddedness. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Managerial Roles; Family Ownership; Theory

2010
Working Paper

The Role of Institutional Development in the Prevalence and Value of Family Firms

We investigate the role played by institutional development in the prevalence and value of family firms, while controlling for the potential effect of cultural norms. China provides a good research lab since it combines great heterogeneity in institutional development... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Data and Data Sets; Law; Management; Organizational Culture; Research; Value; China

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22 Apr 2020
News

Why You Miss Those Casual Friends So Much

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

October 2001
Case

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

By: John A. Davis and Cathy Quinn

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Entrepreneurship; Family Business; Journalism and News Industry; Journalism and News Industry

June 2024
Case

PRAN-RFL Group: A Diversified Family Business

By: Christina R. Wing, Paul Wuensche and Brittany L. Logan

The PRAN-RFL Group was founded in 1980 by Amjad Khan Chowdhury, and grew to become one of the largest conglomerates in Bangladesh in 2023. Throughout the years, Amjad established fast food chains, production manufacturing lines, retail stores, and his own foundation... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Family Business; Management Succession; Family Ownership; Retirement; Bangladesh

February 20, 2014
Article

How to Thrive While Leading a Family Business

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

This article explores the differences between family business executives who thrive and those who struggle. It discusses how family business environments are inherently complex due to the intertwinement of work and life. Thriving leaders exhibit four key behaviors:... View Details

Keywords: Family and Family Relationships; Work-Life Balance; Family Ownership; Outcome or Result; Leadership Style

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July 24, 2013
Article

Family Business: How to Spot a Patriarch Problem

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

In this article, the authors discuss the concept of a "problem patriarch" in family businesses, using the example of Carl, a successful leader who undermined the talent he hired. Carl started a struggling $10 million automotive parts distributor and turned it into a $2... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Style; Family Business; Transition

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