Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • April 27, 2020
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review (website)

A Crisis Playbook for Family Businesses

By: Josh Baron and Ben Francois
  • Format:Electronic
ShareBar

Abstract

In a business crisis, the power of family business owners is magnified. Unlike public companies, which typically focus on maximizing shareholder value, family owners value objectives that usually go well beyond financial returns (e.g., family legacy, reputation). This crisis is forcing family businesses to make trade-offs among those objectives that would have previously been unimaginable. And rather than purely professional relationships, they are built around the complex dynamics of a family. This article highlights five specific actions that owners need to take in order to ensure company leaders – especially executives and boards – have the proper guidance and tools to respond to the crisis.

Keywords

COVID-19 Pandemic; Crisis Management; Family Ownership; Family and Family Relationships

Citation

Baron, Josh, and Ben Francois. "A Crisis Playbook for Family Businesses." Harvard Business Review (website) (April 27, 2020).
  • Register to Read
  • Purchase

About The Author

Josh Baron

Strategy
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • July 2025
    • Faculty Research

    Introduction to the RC Strategy Course, Fall 2025

    By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Jan Rivkin, Josh Baron, John Mulliken, Ashish Nanda, Henrique Castro-Pires, Carolyn Fu and Quan Le
    • February 21, 2025
    • Harvard Business Review Digital Articles

    How a Company’s Ownership Model Shapes the Mistakes It Makes

    By: Josh Baron
    • 2025
    • Faculty Research

    Why Companies Thrive Or Die: Ownership and the Path to Perpetuation

    By: Josh Baron
More from the Authors
  • Introduction to the RC Strategy Course, Fall 2025 By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Jan Rivkin, Josh Baron, John Mulliken, Ashish Nanda, Henrique Castro-Pires, Carolyn Fu and Quan Le
  • How a Company’s Ownership Model Shapes the Mistakes It Makes By: Josh Baron
  • Why Companies Thrive Or Die: Ownership and the Path to Perpetuation By: Josh Baron
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.