Publications

June 2012
Background Note

Note on Financing Growth in Family Firms

By: Belen Villalonga

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Family Business; Private Equity; Joint Ventures; Initial Public Offering

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April 2014
Teaching Note

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

By: William C. Kirby and Erica M. Zendell

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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March 2023
Case

For God, Family & Steel: Lerman Enterprises

By: Lauren Cohen, Andres Aradillas Fernandez and Grace Headinger

September 1998
Article

The Social Psychology of Family Shareholder Dynamics

By: J. A. Davis and Rita M. Herrara

Keywords: Social Psychology; Business and Shareholder Relations

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1997
Book

Generation to Generation: Life Cycles of the Family Business

By: K. Gersick, J. A. Davis, M. M. Hampton and I. Lansberg

Keywords: Family Business; Business Cycles

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29 Nov 2021
Research & Ideas

How Bonuses Get Employees to Choose Work Over Family

with friends and family and 3 percent more time with customers and coworkers. Over the course of a year, that added up to eight extra days spent with clients and colleagues compared to employees who didn’t receive performance pay,... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Kim Raczka

April 7, 2017
Article

Signs You’re Losing Control of Your Family Business

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

These red flags signal the need to reassert authority. View Details

23 Jun 2010
Working Paper Summaries

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

Keywords: by Raphael Amit, Yuan Ding, Belén Villalonga & Hua Zhang

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

June 2024
Teaching Plan

Can Families Conquer Private Equity? Pritzker Private Capital

By: Lauren Cohen and Sophia Pan

Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 224-078. View Details

March 2009 (Revised April 2011)
Course Overview Note

Growing, Financing, and Managing Family and Closely Held Firms: Overview of the Course

By: Belen Villalonga

Most companies around the world are controlled by their founding families, including more than half of all public corporations in the U.S. and Europe and more than two thirds of those in Asia. These companies are the subject of the Financial Management of Family and... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Financial Management; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Family Ownership; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Valuation

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

2021
Book

Harvard Business Review Family Business Handbook: How to Build and Sustain a Successful, Enduring Enterprise

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

Navigate the complex decisions and critical relationships necessary to create and sustain a healthy family business--and business family. Though "family business" may sound like it refers only to mom-and-pop shops, businesses owned by families are among the most... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Family and Family Relationships; Outcome or Result; Business Model; Conflict and Resolution; Organizational Culture