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New research on family businesses from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including succession planning, governance models, wealth management, and conducting negotiations among family members.
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Planning the Future for Harlem’s Beloved Sylvia’s Restaurant

Re: Christina R. Wing

Sylvia’s Restaurant, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in August 2022, is a testament to the values instilled by the matriarch Sylvia Woods. She cultivated a strong community around her soul food restaurant in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood that has continued to thrive, even after her passing a decade ago. Amid business expansions and succession planning, the legacy of Sylvia Woods continues to live on. But as Sylvia’s grandson takes over the business, a new challenge faces him and his family: what should the next 60 years of Sylvia’s look like? Senior Lecturer Christina Wing and Kenneth De'Sean Woods, chief executive officer of Sylvia Woods Inc., discuss the case, “Sixty Years of Sylvia’s.”

5 Qualities That Help Companies Thrive for Decades—Even Centuries

by Sean Silverthorne

What makes a business resilient, agile, and enduring? Geoffrey Jones and Tarun Khanna analyze some of India's most successful companies and offer lessons for leaders everywhere in their book Leadership to Last. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

A Family Business at a Crossroads: Scaling and Succession

Re: Christina R. Wing

In 2000, Rohit Gera turned his family’s boutique real estate development firm in Pune, India, into a dynamic innovator in housing solutions for urban Indian families. Today Gera Developments stands at a crossroads, with Gera planning the end of his managerial career. How should the family think about scaling the business? And, should the company seek a successor to lead those efforts from inside or outside the family? Senior Lecturer Christina Wing and case protagonist Rohit Gera discuss the family business and the crucial decisions it faces in the case, “Gera Developments: Leadership at a Crossroads.” Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Did Entrepreneur Ernesto Tornquist Help or Hurt Argentina?

Re: Geoffrey G. Jones

Geoffrey Jones examines the career of Ernesto Tornquist, a cosmopolitan financier considered to be the most significant entrepreneur in Argentina at the end of the 19th century. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

In America, Immigrants Really Do Get the Job Done

by Michael Blanding

Far from being a drain on the US economy, William Kerr’s research finds immigrants are a driver of innovation and entrepreneurship. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Immigrant Entrepreneurship in America: Evidence from the Survey of Business Owners 2007 & 2012

by Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr

How do businesses created by immigrants differ from those of natives? This study using the 2007 and 2012 Survey of Business Owners records finds that while immigrant-owned businesses have a modestly different industry composition than native-owned businesses, there are ten-fold differences across states in terms of the share of businesses owned by immigrants.

It’s Hard to Fix the Family Business Without Offending the Family

by Julia Hanna

Navigating complex relationships and understanding unwritten processes are among the many challenges of transitioning a family-owned business to the next generation. Len Schlesinger, Michael Raiche, and Roger Zhu discuss the dilemmas of a small Vietnamese restaurant in the case study “Pho Hoa Dorchester.” Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Developing Your Next CEO for the Family Business

Re: Siyu Zhang

Family businesses have four options when considering a new CEO, but the crucial decision is whether a family member or outsider would be the best choice. John A. Davis looks at each option. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Managing the Family Business: Preparing to Sell

by Jonathan Pellegrin

Most families are loath to sell the legacy business, but there are good reasons to do so, says John A. Davis. The key is making the right family preparations and proper wealth planning. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Managing the Family Business: Market Basket’s Lessons About Buyouts

As the Market Basket CEO showdown demonstrated, family businesses can be messy affairs—and buyouts the best solution to conflict. So why don't we see more of them? Family business expert John A. Davis explains when buyouts make sense. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

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

In general, optimists are best suited to lead family-run entrepreneurial organizations. At least until disaster strikes. John A. Davis explains why both perspectives are so valuable. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Managing the Family Business: Entrepreneurs Needed for Long-Run Success

by Michael J. Roberts

Families that want to stay in business for generations don't have a choice but to encourage entrepreneurship in and out of their family company, say Michael Roberts and John Davis. Here's how. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Managing the Family Business: Survival’s Secret Sauce

The secret sauce for surviving from generation to generation, says family-business expert John Davis, has three main ingredients: growth, talent and unity. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Managing the Family Business: Firing the CEO

Firing a CEO is never easy—but the task gets even more difficult in a family business. John A. Davis discusses when to change out the chief executive. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Managing the Family Business: Leadership Roles

by John A. Davis

Poorly designed leadership roles set up a family business for failure. John A. Davis offers a system that produces the decisiveness and unity needed for long-term performance. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Managing the Family Business: It Takes a Village

Is it better to lead a family business with one ultimate leader or a team? John A. Davis, an expert on family business management, kicks off a series of articles with a look at governance models. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

The Times Captures History of American Business

by Martha Lagace

"We are not the first to face what seem like overwhelming challenges," says HBS professor and business historian Nancy F. Koehn. A new volume edited and narrated by Koehn, The Story of American Business: From the Pages of The New York Times, presents more than a hundred timely articles from the 1850s to today. Q&A and book excerpt. Key concepts include: If business leaders are to make sense of the financial crisis and its larger significance, they must have access to both depth and breadth in what they read. Big themes of The Story of American Business include Wall Street, leadership, consumption, the workplace, communications, and transportation. Koehn's narrations distill biography and social, economic, cultural, and business history from the 1850s to today. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Five Steps to Better Family Negotiations

by John A. Davis and Deepak Malhotra

Family relationships are complicated, even more so when your uncle, mother, or daughter is your business partner. Harvard Business School's John A. Davis and Deepak Malhotra outline 5 ways to analyze and improve dealmaking and dispute resolution while protecting family ties. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

The Three Components of Family Governance

Having described the framework of family business governance and the governance of the business, John Davis discusses the most challenging of the family business governance topics—governance of the family itself. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.