Discover What Makes Family Businesses Beat the Odds and Thrive over Generations

Families are complicated; family businesses even more so. Like other companies, family-run enterprises must develop leadership and entrepreneurial skills. But they must also manage family dynamics that rarely mirror the best practices in the latest Harvard Business Review.

Allan Cohen and Pramodita Sharma, scholars with deep professional and personal roots in family businesses, show how enterprising families can transmit the hunger for excellence across generations. Using examples of firms that flourished and those that failed, they describe the practices that characterize entrepreneurial individuals, families, and organizations and offer pragmatic advice that can be tailored to your unique situation.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Allan R. Cohen is the Edward A. Madden Distinguished Professor of Global Leadership at Babson College. He is the coauthor of the bestselling books Managing for Excellence and Influence without Authority.

Pramodita Sharma is the Daniel Clark Sanders Chair and Professor of Family Business at the University of Vermont and a visiting professor at the Kellogg School of Management. She is the editor of Family Business Review.

REVIEWS:

It was very hard for me to put the book down. Growing up in an entrepreneurial family, so much rings so true. I wonder had I read this years ago how my life might have been different. The book documents so much of what our family is living through! It has lots of great ideas for preparing the next generation to continue their roles as stewards of the brands and family participants.
William S. Fisher, Board Member, Gap Inc.

Allan Cohen and Dita Sharma have written a highly insightful, clear, and pragmatic argument that innovation in family companies is essential for multigenerational success. This will help families understand how to innovate in every generation and how to develop leaders who can bring about needed change in the family business.
John Davis, Chair, Families in Business Program, Harvard Business School, and Chairman, Cambridge Advisors to Family Enterprise

The entrepreneurial spirit in my family and our business has been one of the most important factors in our continued success through six generations. Finally, a book that not only acknowledges the importance of entrepreneurship to the long-term success of family businesses but also provides a practical guide to families who want to keep that entrepreneurial spark alive from generation to generation. This book is a joy to read and will transform the way you think about families in business.
Sylvia Shepard, former Chair and Founder, Smith Family Council, Menasha Corporation, fifth generation

This is the clearest and most comprehensive list I have ever come across of all the key practices necessary to ensure the development of the entrepreneurial spirit in every generation. This Magna Carta' of transgenerational entrepreneurship should be made compulsory reading for all members of family businesses.
Cyril Camus, fifth-generation owner and CEO, House of CAMUS Cognac

I am so excited to see that finally a book has been written on entrepreneurship through generations. Entrepreneurship is generally abundant in the founder, and somehow the desire to do something different starts to fade away with the next generations. In my family I encourage and support entrepreneurship for the next generation.
Surya Jhunjhnuwala, founder and Managing Director, Naumi Hotels, Singapore