The objective of this course is to prepare you for the unique challenges and opportunities that accompany running a family business. It will be relevant if you plan to:

• Work for a business that is owned by your family
• Be an owner of a family business, even if you don’t intend to work there
• Serve as a board member of a family business
• Explore the option of being the non-family leader of a family business

While the emphasis of the course will be on operating companies, there will be relevant takeaways for those planning to take a leadership role in a family office or family foundation.

The course will cover the following topics:

• The nature, importance, and uniqueness of family businesses
• The four main types of family businesses
• Family governance structures and processes
• Boards of directors/advisors in a family business
• Defining success: purpose, goals, and guardrails
• Building and sustaining competitive advantage
• Communication and conflict
• Working in a family business
• Succession and transition planning
• Preparing the next generation
• Selling the family business
• Forming a family enterprise
• Failure in a family business: danger zones and warning signs

Each of those topics will involve a case discussion. Some of the cases will be of the standard variety and some will be “live cases” where the leaders from family businesses will be integrated throughout the session. The core text for the course will be Harvard Business Review’s Family Business Handbook (Baron and Lachenauer).

Students will be graded on a mixture of class participation and a final paper. For the final paper, students will draw on their learnings from the course to develop their leadership plan, either for their family business (if they come from one) or more broadly (if they don’t come from one).

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