Publications

July 2005 (Revised August 2005)
Case

Family Governance at the Cousin Consortium Stage (VHS)

By: Courtney Sampson and John A. Davis

Keywords: Governance; Family Business

February 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Background Note

Note on Valuing Control and Liquidity in Family and Closely Held Firms

Most companies around the world are family controlled and/or closely held. The need to value these companies routinely arises in practice for a variety of reasons, e.g., to buy out minority shareholders; for gift and estate tax purposes; to tie executive compensation... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Financial Liquidity; Governance Controls; Valuation

September 2000
Article

Challenges Facing Family Companies in the Gulf Region

By: John A. Davis

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Family Business; Global Range

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19 Oct 1997 - 20 Oct 1997
Conference Presentation

Challenges Facing Family Companies in the Gulf Region

By: J. A. Davis, E. Pitts and K. Cormier

Keywords: Family Business; Local Range; Problems and Challenges; Mexico, Gulf of

July 2012 (Revised August 2012)
Case

Friend Bank: The Time for Hope (Abridged)

By: Clayton Rose and Aldo Sesia

In 2010, Friend Bank was entering the fifth year of Hope Harris Johnson's ambitious 20-year growth plan to transform her family's one-branch community bank into an institution with a substantial presence in southeastern Alabama. Harris Johnson was pleased, so far, with... View Details

Keywords: Banking; Family Business; Strategy And Execution; Banks and Banking; Family Ownership; Financial Institutions; Strategy; Banking Industry; United States; Alabama

November 2007 (Revised September 2010)
Background Note

The Rong Family: A Chinese Business History

By: Elisabeth Koll

Provides the complex historical background to understanding the development of family businesses in China from the late 19th century to the present. Using the example of the Rong family, China's most prominent industrialist family in pre-1949 China, analyzes the... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Business History; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Alliances; Business and Government Relations; Social and Collaborative Networks; China

Research Summary

Overview

In my research historical inquiry plays an important part in understanding the continuities from the pre-1949 past and the complex convergence of business institutions in the process of China’s current economic, political, and social modernization. Historians are able... View Details

Keywords: Business History; China; Business Government Relations; Entrepreneurs; Family Business; Industrial Development; Infrastructure; Transportation; Entrepreneurship; History; Manufacturing Industry; Transportation Industry; Rail Industry; Construction Industry; Asia

May 2016 (Revised June 2016)
Case

A Succession as the Engine for Success

By: Jay Lorsch, Emily McTague and Rosa Maria Fite

Francisco J. Riberas sat in his office reflecting on his first summer working at the family business, in 1989. Growing up, Francisco Riberas had learned about the company through conversations with his father, Francisco Riberas Pampliega, over the dinner table and in... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Alignment; Organizational Behavior; Corporate Governance; Family Business; Family-owned Business; Succession; CEO Mentoring; Spain; Family and Family Relationships; Management; Leadership; Auto Industry; Europe; Spain

February 2009 (Revised April 2011)
Course Overview Note

Growing, Financing, and Managing Family and Closely Held Firms

By: Belen Villalonga

This note provides instructors with an overview of the course, its module structure and its unifying framework. The note contains information that should only be available to instructors, and should not be distributed to students. A shorter version of the note for... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Corporate Finance

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; Media and Broadcasting Industry

September 2021
Supplement

Ensuring Your Family’s Future: The Alagil Family Office (B)

By: Lauren Cohen, Esel Çekin and Fares Khrais

Keywords: Family Business; Financial Services Industry; Saudi Arabia

March 2023 (Revised April 2023)
Case

Shelly Sun at BrightStar Care: The Evolution of a Leader

By: Boris Groysberg, Colleen Ammerman and Sarah L. Abbott

Shelly Sun had founded BrightStar Care, a home health care and medical staffing agency, 20 years earlier and had grown the business to over 300 franchised locations and $654 million in annual system-wide sales. Sun had spent years working to get “the right people in... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneur; Family Business; Franchising; Health Care; Women-owned Businesses; Growth And Scaling; Organization; Franchise Ownership; Entrepreneurship; Work-Life Balance; Growth and Development; Health Industry; United States

February 2023 (Revised April 2023)
Case

Kvadrat: Focus, Execute, and Grow

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

Kvadrat was a family-owned global textiles company. The company had enjoyed impressive top-line growth and was shifting gears to emphasize profitability via a shorter strategic agenda. Agenda items included: U.S. expansion, generating improved margins in its consumer... View Details

Keywords: Growth; Culture; International Expansion; Organization; Family Business; Leadership; Growth and Development; Strategy; Organizations; Supply Chain; Family Ownership; Profit; Organizational Culture; Denmark

17 Nov 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Managing the Family Business: Are Optimists or Pessimists Better Leaders?

Editor's note: This is part of a series of occasional columns on managing the family business written by Senior Lecturer John A. Davis. Optimism and pessimism are strong, stable traits that reflect our... View Details

May 2006
Article

How Do Family Ownership, Control, and Management Affect Firm Value?

Keywords: Family Ownership; Business Ventures; Value

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Read Now

October 2024
Case

Reed Group and Succession in a Family Business: An Impossible Job to Fill?

By: Lauren H. Cohen and Tonia Labruyere

James Reed had taken over Reed Group, the recruitment and career services company his father had founded and built, in 1994. He was now reflecting on succession planning and other challenges that lay ahead: with no obvious choice among his family members, he needed to... View Details

Keywords: Charity; Succession Planning; Family Business; Values and Beliefs; Management Succession; Mission and Purpose; Family Ownership; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Family and Family Relationships; Recruitment; AI and Machine Learning; Employment Industry; United Kingdom; London

October 2022
Case

Weapons of Self Destruction: Zak Pym Williams and the Cultivation of Mental Wellness

By: Lauren Cohen, Ronnie Stangler and Grace Headinger

Zak Pym Williams, mental health advocate, grappled with the question of how to create a proactive mental health family environment for his children. Having witnessed how mental health challenges such as addiction and depression had impacted the past four generations of... View Details

Keywords: Family; U.S.; Mental Health; Family Business; Entertainment; Values and Beliefs; Ethics; Leading Change; Family and Family Relationships; Well-being; Social Issues; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States; California

June 2015 (Revised October 2015)
Case

High Liner Foods, 2015

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

In 2015, Canadian-based High Liner Foods Ltd was one of North America's largest frozen fish processors with extensive shares of both the food service and retail channels in Canada, the USA and Mexico. With over C$1 billion in revenues, the company had grown four fold... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Strategic Decision Making; Family Business; Commodities; Strategic Planning; Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; North America; Canada