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  • February 21, 2025
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review Digital Articles

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

By: Josh Baron
  • Format:Electronic
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Abstract

Why do some companies continue to thrive for decades and others die after an initial run of success? Like many kinds of accidents, company failure is generally the consequence of cascading effects that combine to overwhelm a previously effective strategy. But the errors that lead to corporate death spirals often can be traced back to a common factor that receives insufficient attention: their ownership model. This article explores how ownership influences company success or failure across five main dimensions.

Keywords

Business Exit or Shutdown; Failure; Ownership

Citation

Baron, Josh. "How a Company’s Ownership Model Shapes the Mistakes It Makes." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (February 21, 2025).
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About The Author

Josh Baron

Strategy
→More Publications

More from the Author

    • 2025
    • Faculty Research

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

    By: Josh Baron
    • May 11, 2020
    • Harvard Business Review (website)

    Steer Your Family Businesses Through an Unplanned Transition

    By: Josh Baron and Nick Di Loreto
    • April 27, 2020
    • Harvard Business Review (website)

    A Crisis Playbook for Family Businesses

    By: Josh Baron and Ben Francois
More from the Author
  • Why Companies Thrive Or Die: Ownership and the Path to Perpetuation By: Josh Baron
  • Steer Your Family Businesses Through an Unplanned Transition By: Josh Baron and Nick Di Loreto
  • A Crisis Playbook for Family Businesses By: Josh Baron and Ben Francois
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