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April 2025
Supplement

Pouring Oil on Troubled Waters: Vickers Oils and Resolving Family Conflict over Generations

By: Lauren Cohen, Octavian Graf Pilati and Sophia Pan

April 2025
Case

Pouring Oil on Troubled Waters: Vickers Oils and Resolving Family Conflict over Generations

By: Lauren Cohen, Octavian Graf Pilati and Sophia Pan

Will Vickers, a seventh-generation (G7) member of the Vickers Family, grappled with a pressing challenge: how to re-integrate family members into the firm to recover lost talent. His father, Peter Vickers, was the lone leader of the Vickers Oils – despite having... View Details

January 2025
Supplement

Colbún’s Angostura Dam Project (B)

By: James K. Sebenius and Nicolas Andrade

The A case describes Colbún Chile’s plans for the Angostura dam in the Bío Bío River, a hydroelectric construction venture with major challenges given the region’s history of indigenous resistance. This context was especially unfavorable given the highly contentious... View Details

Keywords: Bargaining; Conflict Resolution; Dam; Stakeholder Analysis; Environmental Negotiation; Negotiation; Chile

January 2025
Case

Colbún's Angostura Dam Project (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Nicolas Andrade

The A case describes Colbún Chile’s plans for the Angostura dam in the Bío Bío River, a hydroelectric construction venture with major challenges given the region’s history of indigenous resistance. This context was especially unfavorable given the highly contentious... View Details

Keywords: Bargaining; Conflict Resolution; Dam; Stakeholder Analysis; Environmental Negotiation; Negotiation; Energy Generation; Construction; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Energy Industry; Chile

January 2025
Case

Constitutional Fiction: John Miller & the Legitimacy of Family Constitutions

By: Lauren Cohen, Octavian Graf Pilati and Sophia Pan

John Miller sat reviewing his family’s Constitution, grappling with how best to implement and enforce its provisions. Designed to prevent ambiguity in governance, the Family Constitution set out core values and guidelines to promote harmony and cohesion among family... View Details

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

September 2023
Technical Note

Note on Difficult Conversations in the Family Enterprise

By: Christina R. Wing

The best time to have a difficult conversation is, ideally, as soon as possible. Engaging in challenging conversations early can produce beneficial results for several reasons, such as resolving issues, improving communication, preserving relationships, and increasing... View Details

Keywords: Conversation; Family Business; Interpersonal Communication; Conflict and Resolution

April 15, 2015
Article

What to Do If a Feud Threatens Your Family Business

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

Keywords: Family and Family Relationships; Family Business; Conflict and Resolution

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11 Feb 2022
Lecture

Explaining the Persistence of Gender Inequality: The Work-Family Narrative as a Social Defense Against the 24/7 Work Culture

By: Irene Padavic and Robin J. Ely

Are women’s family responsibilities the reason for their stalled advancement?

Conventional wisdom says “yes.” But is it true? When companies create solutions to address work-life conflict instead of rethinking the 24/7 work culture, they find their... View Details

Keywords: Gender; Equality and Inequality; Work-Life Balance

April 2025
Article

For the Love of Money: The Role of Financially Contingent Self-worth in Romantic Relationships

By: Deborah E. Ward, Lora E. Park, Courtney M. Walsh, Kristin Naragon-Gainey, Elaine Paravati and Ashley V. Whillans

Financial conflicts are among the top reasons for dissatisfaction and dissolution in romantic relationships. Beyond economic strain, however, few studies have examined the psychological antecedents of financial conflicts that contribute to relationship satisfaction.... View Details

Keywords: Conflict and Resolution; Family and Family Relationships; Satisfaction; Personal Finance

January 2021 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Ken Talbot—Cautionary Tale in Estate Planning

By: Christina R. Wing and Faith Lyons

In 2010, Ken Talbot, a self-made Australian billionaire, was traveling throughout Africa to bring his innovative coal technology to the continent when he perished in a plane crash. His will was originally created years prior when his estate worth was estimated to be AU... View Details

Keywords: Estate Planning; Entrepreneurship; Assets; Agreements and Arrangements; Lawsuits and Litigation; Valuation; Family and Family Relationships; Conflict Management; Australia; Africa

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

November 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Integrating Beam Suntory (A)

By: David G. Fubini, Rawi Abdelal and David Lane

The spring 2014 acquisition of U.S. alcoholic spirits maker Beam Inc. by Japan’s Suntory Holdings vaulted Suntory from 15th to third-largest international spirits company in the world. Yet Suntory had borrowed nearly the entire $16 billion purchase price, and relied on... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Communication; Borrowing and Debt; Globalization; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Retention; Leadership; Supply Chain; Organizational Structure; Ownership; Relationships; Conflict and Resolution; Integration; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry; Japan; United States; Chicago

November 2020
Supplement

Integrating Beam Suntory (B)

By: David G. Fubini, Rawi Abdelal and David Lane

Supplements (A) case: The spring 2014 acquisition of U.S. alcoholic spirits maker Beam Inc. by Japan’s Suntory Holdings vaulted Suntory from 15th to third-largest international spirits company in the world. Yet Suntory had borrowed nearly the entire $16 billion... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Communication; Borrowing and Debt; Globalization; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Retention; Leadership; Supply Chain; Organizational Structure; Ownership; Relationships; Conflict and Resolution; Integration; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry; Japan; United States; Chicago

March 2020
Article

Explaining the Persistence of Gender Inequality: The Work-family Narrative as a Social Defense Against 24/7 Work Culture

By: Irene Padavic, Robin J. Ely and Erin M. Reid

It is widely accepted that the conflict between women’s family obligations and professional jobs’ long hours lies at the heart of their stalled advancement. Yet research suggests that this “work-family narrative” is incomplete: men also experience it and nevertheless... View Details

Keywords: 24/7 Work Culture; Hegemonic Narrative; Social Defense; Work-family Conflict; Systems-psychodynamic Theory; Work-Life Balance; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Organizational Culture

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January 2020
Case

Terra Nova: A Social Business Trying to Unlock Land Rights for the Urban Poor in Brazil

By: Julie Battilana, Ruth Costas, Marissa Kimsey and Priscilla Zogbi

Brothers André and Daniel Albuquerque founded the company Terra Nova in 2001 to mediate land disputes between poor families illegally living in urban areas and the official landowners—with the aspiration to improve the lives of the poor. A business-led approach to the... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation; Power and Influence; Social Issues; Conflict and Resolution; Business and Government Relations; Infrastructure; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; Brazil; Latin America

October 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Dulcie Madden (A)—Growth or Exit?

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Christopher Payton and Shweta Bagai

This is part of a three-case series that follows Dulcie Madden's journey as a founder over five years. Case (A) is about managing growth and cash flow; Case (B) is about the exit decision and conditions on a sale; Case (C) shows Madden dealing with adversity and the... View Details

October 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Supplement

Dulcie Madden (B)—A Difficult Choice

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai

This is part of a three-case series that follows Dulcie Madden's journey as a founder over five years. Case (A) is about managing growth and cash flow; Case (B) is about the exit decision and conditions on a sale; Case (C) shows Madden dealing with adversity and the... View Details

December 26, 2018
Article

Why Family Businesses Need to Find the Right Level of Conflict

Many families avoid conflict because it makes them uncomfortable. For families that own and manage businesses, this is a problem. Conflict avoidance leads people to avoid difficult–but necessary–conversations and decisions. Instead of avoiding conflict, the people who... View Details

Keywords: Management Skills; Conflict and Resolution; Family Business

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September 2018 (Revised November 2018)
Case

From Beirut With Love (A)

By: Christina R. Wing, Esel Y. Cekin and Samer Al-Rachedy

This case describes how Robert Fadel, CEO and chairman of ABC, one of Lebanon’s leading retail and real estate groups, professionalized the family business. Robert was the second son of the company’s founder, Maurice Fadel, who had run it single-handedly. Concerned... View Details

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