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EIX Editor
Family Business Editor
Interest: Innovation Strategy Family Business Entrepreneurship
Industry: Management of Companies & Enterprises Accommodation & Food Services Construction
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Student teams help real entrepreneurs solve business problems while gaining hands-on experience in research, marketing, strategy and client management.
Outsourcing can give startups valuable capabilities, but close partnerships can become dangerous when trust replaces clear expectations and accountability.
Frank DePasquale explains how he grew from one small restaurant to a collection of Boston eateries by learning constantly and building strong teams.
Il Panino owner Themistocles Vlahoulis explains how business students and a Boston restaurateur helped him improve marketing, solve business problems and open a second location.
Femgineer founder Poornima Vijayashanker shares lessons on leaving a steady job, building a tech education business and why entrepreneurs should stay open to coaching.
Students redesign Lindor truffles for new customers while learning product strategy, creativity, branding, packaging and advertising.
Students create and pitch a fictional family business TV series to apply lessons on succession, conflict, sibling rivalry, governance and family dynamics.
Crowdsourcing and other forms of customer feedback can help entrepreneurs gauge demand, uniqueness and appeal before committing fully to a new venture.
Best Buy improves customer loyalty by hiring well, training employees, expanding service, rewarding ideas and encouraging experimentation.
The Fredo Effect occurs when an unqualified or disruptive relative keeps a job because of family ties, hurting coworkers, relationships and business performance.
Family firms are tightly connected systems. Changing one part can unsettle the rest, but avoiding innovation can be even more dangerous.
Confidentiality agreements help students trust one another, share sensitive family experiences and learn more deeply from real family business challenges.
Women in the study received far less bank financing than men, while family and friends appeared to provide an important alternative source of capital.
Justin Rockefeller explains how families can pursue social and environmental impact without abandoning financial discipline or long-term investment goals.
Informal people practices can create favoritism, confusion and conflict. Formal HR rules help family firms treat employees fairly and improve performance.
A key executive quit after years of uncertainty about pay, ownership and succession. The case shows why family firms must communicate career paths before problems erupt.
Joe Brito says relatives should earn their place by starting at the bottom, learning the business and proving themselves before moving into leadership roles.
Joseph Brito Jr. explains how work ethic, shared values, employee loyalty and community commitment helped his family business prosper across four generations.
Steven Mould built Flint & Flame by combining confidence, passion and product belief with a willingness to listen to customers and refine the offer.
Former police officer Steven Mould left a steady career near age 50 to build Flint & Flame. He shares the realities of becoming an entrepreneur later in life.
Susan Penta and Sandra Powers Murphy discuss resilience, tough decisions and why women may define entrepreneurial success more broadly than men.
Women entrepreneurs benefit from mentorship, funding, strong networks and visible role models. Universities and business organizations can help provide all four.
Restaurants build stronger businesses when they go beyond selling meals and create genuine relationships with guests and their communities.
New businesses today have both a mandate and an opportunity to build a workplace that not only complies with laws against sexual harassment, but also makes every employee feel respected, safe and comfortable.
Entrepreneurs frequently underestimate their personal financial needs and fail to plan ahead for how the business will support them over time.
Entrepreneurial skills can benefit women whether or not they start companies. Two leading scholars explain why colleges must make programs more inclusive.
Yad has a social mission at its heart: it aims to help Guatemalan artisans with special needs express themselves through art, and then find retailers who can help them reach markets for their work.
Founder Angie Sanchez explains how mentors and accelerators helped Artyfactos expand its mission and reach new markets.
Bernette Dawson explains how outside advice helped Made Organics grow while showing why founders still need confidence in their own judgment.
Women entrepreneurs may discount their own success and doubt their abilities. Research shows how imposter fears can limit confidence and business growth.
Working together all year can make holiday tensions worse. Boundaries, patience, distractions and realistic expectations can make gatherings easier.
Employees are more likely to take initiative when family firms blend supportive collaboration with clear monitoring and performance feedback.
Future women leaders can build confidence and credibility through education, outside work experience and early encouragement to pursue leadership opportunities.
New products often fail because they solve weak problems, add too many features or skip customer validation. Stephen Golden explains five common mistakes.
You don’t need to be an engineer or coder to innovate. Tucker Marion explains how people with limited resources can develop, fund and launch new ideas.
Many professors are revising their courses for remote learning. Check out our free and peer-reviewed resources that can easily be used in an online course.
As classrooms close, teachers are moving classes online. Here are some tips from those who've made the transition.
Faculty and students around the world are making a huge transition. Using the right technology and supporting students will be critical. Here's some advice from professors who've learned what works.
Now that you (successfully) moved your course online, this followup article offers more activities and techniques to incorporate.
Threats to survival can push family businesses to reassess strengths and weaknesses, look for opportunities and challenges coming their way, and unite behind a challenge.
We have a unique opportunity to learn from one another and generate new knowledge that will last generations. We need your help!
It's possible to start a business while working for someone else, and it can even make you look better to your current boss. But the risks can be great, too.
Women are honing their business and technical skills in preparation for leadership, but many of them still struggle with how they communicate and present themselves. Despite their know-how they still
Colleges and universities everywhere are grappling with how to teach in fall of 2020: online only, on campus or a hybrid. These articles will help entrepreneurship educators be prepared for whatever happens.
Entrepreneur, philanthropist and author Simran Mohinani has great role models among her family members. She talks about balancing the family and mentor relationships and offers advice for future family business leaders and women.
Despite decades of striving and some progress, women still face challenges. Outdated ideas about primogeniture and a woman's rightful place have not yet gone away, and women still feel too much pressure to prove themselves.
Daughters are increasingly assuming leadership roles at family firms. In this video, two future business leaders talk about family expectations, their worries, their hopes for the future and the importance of knowing their value.
Many smart and talented military spouses are becoming entrepreneurs, a path that allows them to thrive professionally even when they can't stay in one place.
With a vaccine on the way, we feel the best advice for 2021 is to focus on what comes next. These articles from the past year can inform your game plan for the post-Covid world that will dawn in a few months.
This experiential exercise is designed to enhance student learning about the four parenting styles and how they affect the dynamics within the family firm.
While some family businesses have closed their doors forever, others have successfully pivoted their business. Four experts discuss what they did right.
Women often juggle many roles in the business and the family, and typically shun the idea of power because they associate it with dictators and manipulation.
Women advisors can contribute unique perspectives that often emphasize synergies between the family and business.
Foundations provide a way for entrepreneurs to address societal problems or to help organizations focused on education, health care research or the arts.
It’s surprising how many business-owning families fail to properly plan for this worst case scenario. Here's advice from two experts about protecting the business.
Women go the extra mile regardless of how they are treated by leadership. Men only exert extra effort in exchange for altruistic leadership.
The fight over the beloved TV artist's estate is a cautionary tale for any business. How to protect your business and your heirs well before you die.
A more generous view of human capability helps companies access a wider pool of talent in an era of profound labor shortages.
How to power through this new phase of supply chain problems, labor shortages, frozen networks and the "great resignation."
Mitzi Perdue, author of a book about family businesses and widow of Frank and daughter of a Sheraton Hotels founder, shares lessons about family harmony.
Koch Industries, McCain Foods and Robert Mondavi were all roiled by sibling battles. These three strategies will help you prevent it.
We're republishing this popular article from year-end 2019, which includes timeless advice about getting along from our family business editors.
We continue our discussion with Mitzi Perdue, widow of Frank and daughter of a Sheraton Hotels founder, who shares what she's learned about family unity.
It can bring stronger connections with customers, better problem solving and enhanced creativity. Here's how to get started.
Trust people. Walk around a lot so you meet more non-relatives. And don't show off your new car when the firm is tightening the belt.
Jaffe shares the insights gained from his research into family firms from around the world that have lasted at least three generations.
Values, as Mitzi Perdue points out, help children become responsible stewards of the family business when it's their turn.
Succession can be rocky when the heir is viewed as entitled to the crown, rather than deserving of it. Author Bob Buday talks about how thought leadership can help.
Keep moving forward; adjust your product portfolio and brand; and manage your family and your money.
Startups and family firms with between $10 million and $1 billion in revenue, need different kinds of strategies and leadership, as Rob Sher of Mastering Midsized points out.
A family firm that grows into a midsized company may be going through what Rob Sher calls the difficult
The 100-year-old Nielsen-Massey flavorings company, whose vanilla and other products can be found on store shelves everywhere, spiced up its management with non-relatives.
What happens when the best leader for your family business isn't part of the family? One company decided to look outside, and it improved family relationships.
We interviewed four founders of family businesses to learn about their challenges and what's working.
These free classroom exercises, interviews and other resources will add new energy, fun and inspiration to your students' course work.
Overly strict and overly permissive parents are not doing their children or the family business any favors. "Authoritative" parents have the best results.
Janme Sinha of Boston Consulting Group talks about how soft emotional issues and hard business issues can tear families apart.
Making family members part of your business's image has both benefits and risks. How to weigh if it's the right move.
Money, opportunity and succession are all areas where the generations often don't communicate with each other. Professor Peter Jaskiewicz shares insights from his acclaimed new book.
The bravado and doggedness that worked for Winston Churchill and Vince Lombardi won't work at family firms, which need a more supportive leadership style.
Boards can help family firms align the interests of owners and managers, and
EIX and familybusiness.org have a library of articles with research-based best practices for entrepreneurial women. Check them out here.
Familybusiness.org and EIX have dozens of articles sharing best practices for entrepreneurial women. You can find them here.
Family business researcher, lecturer and advisor Claudia Astrachan discusses the top mistakes family businesses make in staffing and interacting with boards, and how to do it right.
Substance abuse problems, lack of motivation and failure to launch are just a few of the problems that can plague young people in wealthy families. A counselor weighs in.
You are welcome to use these tools to help draft, revise, and/or expand on submitted articles -- but make sure you understand our rules.
Alliance will offer family-led enterprises around the world research-tested advice on how to build, manage and sustain vibrant businesses.
Families with several businesses under their umbrella face competition for resources and family attention. The right governance can help everyone thrive.
A family business advisor finds more than a few similarities between the HBO hit and real families. Here's how to minimize the rancor.
Often an impartial third party is the best choice to manage the family wealth for future generations and the business's longevity.
Families with diverse education and industry experience fuel the fire of entrepreneurship, especially when they dine together frequently.
A counselor's advice: Do less, say less and watch more. Let your children make mistakes and experience the consequences.
Families with diverse education and industry experience fuel the fire of entrepreneurship when they dine together frequently.
Rania Labaki, a professor at the EDHEC Business School in France and director of its Family Business Center, says that founders must allow their future leaders to have an entrepreneurial spirit.
Older leaders should be curious about how next-gens view the world, and younger leaders-to-be should have patience with their elders and honor what they've created.
Whether your family business’s culture is traditional or modern, you can honor the past and still prepare for the future.
Being emotionally or geographically distant can undermine the family's ability to work together productively. A family business advisor shares tips for success.
Childhood shapes how heirs view the family firm and the wealth it has created. Older generations must start the conversations that confront the issues.
Philanthropy can be a catalyst for leadership development, and generate support and good will towards the business in the community.
For family firms, branding is not about marketing but about reputation -- how customers, employees, suppliers and others perceive them.
A family business advisor talks about what well-meaning families get wrong about succession, conflict, and salaries, and what they can learn from watching
A Minneapolis-based firm challenged employee teams to design and build something that would help people in their local community.
The business may run smoothly; the heirs may be competent -- but is the older generation emotionally ready? An advisor weighs in.
Our site visitors cared about getting the next generation ready for leadership, having a plan in place, and minimizing conflict and money woes.
A clinical psychologist and family business advisor shares tips for cutting through emotions and focusing on conflict rationally and productively.
Family firms, unlike non-family firms, value a learning-based path to entrepreneurship, which plays to women’s strengths.
A family business consultant explores this question, and shares advice on managing conflict, setting boundaries, and cultivating more kindness within the family.
We've partnered with top researchers to bring their insights to our wide audience of family business owners and leaders. These articles resonated the most with readers.
For family businesses, a popular leader can bring many benefits, but can make it challenging to manage succession. An advisor offers strategies.
This new page of FamilyBusiness.org answers many of your most important questions about succession and has links to dozens of articles.
While forever being part of a duo can be challenging, twins can bring many strengths to their family business when they are aligned with each other.
While family members running a business together often lean on one another for advice, they can often learn best from people running other family businesses.
Blessings in a Backpack can inspire any family-run business or organization that hopes to continue the founder's spirit and mission in the next generation.
Books, websites, videos and blogs can capture a family business's saga, with all its challenges and triumphs, and shape a powerful legacy.
A family business advisor says a change in leadership is like passing the baton in a relay race. Don't let go too abruptly.
Sometimes the worst behavior happens for all the right reasons. Putting "family first" can jeopardize the business's health and longevity.
Advisor and author David Werdiger talks about the business benefits and personal drawbacks of being selfish and stubborn.
UNC-Chapel Hill Professor Howard Aldrich said focus and grades improved once cell phones were out of the picture…and students engaged with one another more.
It can be dangerous to ask executive assistants or your CFO to manage your personal finances. A separate staff of calm professionals will help both business and family manage money responsibly.
Stephen Mould and Lisa Lazure, partners in business and life, left jobs in law enforcement and marketing to start a knife company.
Fiduciary boards keep family firms focused on the long term, rather than on short-term, tactical strategies. But many family firms resist having one, fearful of losing control of their enterprise.
Sharon Beck, owner of a Jovie Childcare franchise, shares her insights on the benefits and challenges of being your parents' boss.
Many readers wanted advice about handling toxic family relationships, managing succession, and preserving the family’s values over time.
Each year, the Schulze Publication Awards celebrate the authors of the most impactful articles published on EIX and FamilyBusiness.org. These awards recognize exceptional thought leadership, clarity
Our newest group of winners — who published articles during the academic year of July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024 — represent a diverse range of insights.
Allen Esrock of NxtGen Nexus weights in on how to optimize the free labor and other benefits, and how to manage conflicting goals, sibling resentment, and suspicious non-relatives who work for you.
Ben Berger and Ron Nahass of RSM talk about the benefits of letting outside contractors handle critical business functions.
Along with funding worthy organizations and missions through his foundation, Dick Schulze also works behind the scenes to help individuals during a life-threatening health crisis.
While the money is nice, selling a business is not a happily ever after. Depression is not uncommon.
Authors of EIX and FamilyBusiness.org articles with extraordinary impact have received Wetherbe Thought Leadership Awards. We celebrate them in this issue.
Consider one if your family business has 15 or more relatives involved, or multiple generations.
Like organisms in nature, the relationship between family and business can be mutually beneficial or detrimental. Here's how to strengthen both spheres.
Building on three specific attributes -- long-term orientation, social capital, and values-driven governance -- helps families build strengths for generations to come.
Many want to know where they will fit in the family enterprise; how the wealth will be divided; and how the business will be governed as the family grows in complexity.
A family business adviser shares how to improve family dynamics to help younger family members get ready for top roles.
These awards recognize exceptional thought leadership, clarity of perspective, and the ability to bridge research and practice.
Set boundaries clearly and often, understand your own hot buttons, and be genuinely curious about why the other side thinks the way they do.
An unexpected death or disability can wreak havoc on a family business's best-laid plans.
A leader's tacit knowledge can make the company more successful, but it's a challenge to understand what's behind it or how to pass it down to next-gens.
How Give n' Glow grew -- from a Northeastern University dorm room to a thriving regional charity -- provides lessons for enterprises launching on a shoestring.
When every problem feels urgent, it often signals an inability to prioritize. Leaders need to identify why this is happening, and develop protocols for moving forward.
Franchising was the key to growth for a new beauty company facing competition from established brands.
The Wisconsin-based family business providing home-cooked meals for the elderly discovered a nationwide need for their services, and used franchising to expand.
A job rotation program gives next-gens both hands-on experience and a working knowledge of different departments and important outside relationships.
Family ownership can build trust, credibility, and customer loyalty—but only when it reinforces something stakeholders value. Here are five questions to ask first.
Working closely with women entrepreneurs increased entrepreneurial confidence in female college students —and made them more likely to begin their careers at young firms.
Family business consultants often create their greatest value in unexpected ways: helping families uncover the real reasons they're stuck, have difficult conversations, and make better decisions.
What Nordstrom, Mars, Dillard's and Patagonia can teach family businesses about ownership structure
Many family businesses facing a leadership transition to the next generation turn to advisors to help them create a plan and work through their differences. Multigenerational advisory teams can help.
This video offers an overview of Robert Sutton’s Harvard Business Review article and book titled, “The No A**hole Rule.” It reminds us about the need to be civil in the workplace and not to tolerate bad behavior. From an entrepreneurship standpoint, it highlights the need for good leadership and the importance of creating an organizational environment that brings out the best in people.
