University Colleges and Departments undertaking research, or offering courses and services about Family Business.
At the top of this page we provide details of research, courses and services offered by Chartered Universities. Links to Associations for Family Business Consultants, and also Family Business Owners, are listed at this bottom of the page.
Caledonian Glasgow University: Family Business Centre
Ensuring the longevity of family businesses in Scotland through the provision of excellence in research, teaching and business support.
Caledonian Family Business Centre is part of the Caledonian Business School and we specialise in:
Excellence in Family Business Research; learning and teaching through undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing personal development programmes.
University of Gloucestershire: International Centre for Families in Business
The major purpose of the Centre is to offer the family business a place for learning and education; a place where the family and other key personnel will be able to access information, seek advice and above all meet and share with other families in business.
Bringing together a team of family business practitioners from the fields of accountancy, law, finance, banking, behavioral science and management education, the Centre will be the premier source of support and advice to the family business in the UK.
University of Glaucestershire: MBA in Family Business
This programme is unique. Developed in collaboration with The International Centre for Families in Business and with the support of the European Social Fund, this fully conforming MBA has been designed with specific content directed at family business management. If you are involved in a family business, or have a special interest in this area, these innovative measures will provide you with an unparalleled, tailored experience. The course focuses on family business in all modules. Three modules explicitly cover the unique aspects of family business; the opportunity to apply learning directly to the family firm; and flexible assistance from experienced advisors to family firms. You will share experience and learning with an exclusive group of people whose fundamental concern is family business.
London Business School Family Business Research Initiative
Professor Nigel Nicholson and his research team are seeking to make London Business School one of the world´s leading centres for the study of family business.
Harvard: Families In Business Program
Family businesses are a major force, as well as vibrant competitors in today's marketplace. While family-owned companies have enviable strengths—long-term relationships, a reputation for quality work, aggressive reinvestment, and high stakeholder loyalty—they also can be hindered by traditional practices, internal politics, and family conflicts. In a business environment characterized by new players and intensified competition, running a family company has become increasingly complex.
Business family members face unique challenges, such as nurturing effective family work and shareholder relationships, addressing succession issues, and maintaining ownership control. These tasks require sensitive leadership and thoughtful planning by the business, family, and ownership groups.
A family can contribute greatly to the success of its business when the family follows a discipline mapped out by successful families in businesses from around the world. These management practices are central to the Families in Business: From Generation to Generation program at Harvard Business School (HBS) Executive Education.
Harvard: MBA, Half Course in Family Business
This course is intended for HBS and cross-registered students interested in understanding how to capitalize on the strengths and manage the challenges of family-owned companies, including:
* students whose family (or spouse's family) owns a business, whether or not the student intends to work in the business or will be a shareholder of it; and
* students who may work with these businesses as a non-family manager, consultant, investment banker, private banker or in other roles.
University of Cincinnati: Goering Center For Family Business
The Goering Center for Family & Private Business, at the University of Cincinnati, is a leading educational and informational resource center for family and closely held businesses. The Goering Center offers its members and community partners outstanding programs focusing on the unique and critical issues facing family businesses of all kinds.
University of Massachusetts: Family Business Center
The UMass Family Business Center assists family companies to recognize common problems and find solutions to their unique challenges. The Center offers owners and managers a comprehensive learning community, including presentations by experts from the fields of psychology, management, law, accounting, financial and estate planning, and banking.
Lebanese American University: Institute of Family and Entrepreneurial Business
The Institute’s vision is to be a valuable resource center and the leader in the family business activities in Lebanon and the Middle East.
The mission of the Institute is to coordinate and manage research in Family Owned Businesses, while at the same time enhancing LAU’s curricula both in Business and other related social sciences. The Institute will provide high quality development programs that should assist family businesses prepare for the future. The Institute will be a strategic asset for family businesses in Lebanon and the Middle East. It will facilitate communication amongst faculty, management specialists, company executives, students and the business community at large and will allow them to exchange plans and successful ideas in an intellectually stimulating environment.
Louisiana State University: Family Business Forum
The LSU Family Business Forum offers family business owners such as yourself opportunities to gain knowledge that can help you successfully operate and expand your business.
The Forum offers practical, interactive programs, resources, and networking opportunities designed to promote future business success. The Forum sponsors half-day business meetings where you can learn from top management professionals, savvy business consultants, informed university professors, and experienced family business owners.
Northeastern University: Center for Family Business
Founded in 1898, Northeastern University is a private research university located in the heart of Boston, and a leader in interdisciplinary research, urban engagement, and the integration of classroom learning with real-world experience.
The Northeastern University Center for Family Business is a membership organization that provides education, networking opportunities, and support to business families.
Northwestern University: Family Enterprises, Issues and Solutions Course.
This course addresses the special issues of family enterprises, including succession, governance, strategy, family dynamics, culture, philanthropy, and family offices. The course will benefit those from business-owning families, as well as their advisors. The class will involve case discussions, guest speakers, field or research assignments and presentations on new ideas in family enterprise.
Oregon State University: Family Business Management Course
The course addresses aspects of managing an established family business, on a day-to-day basis and planning for succession to the next generation: values, life cycles, marketing strategies, succession, conflict resolution, communications, legal and financial aspects, estate planning, governance and philanthropy.
Family business issues of new companies are a small part of the course content; this is not a course in entrepreneurship or in small business management, and is not immediately relevant for students who want to start their own companies. For more information check out the full course syllabus.
The University of San Diego: Family Business Forum
The University of San Diego is a Catholic institution of higher learning chartered in 1949. The school enrolls more than 7,000 students and is known for its commitment to teaching, the liberal arts, the formation of values and community service.
The University of San Diego Family Business Forum has been working in support of San Diego's family businesses for more than a decade, and was one of the first six organizations of its kind in the United States.
Tulane University: Family Business Center
The A. B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane formed the Tulane University Family Business Center in 1992. The Family Business Center (FBC) focuses on the issues and challenges that family businesses must overcome to grow and prosper from one generation to the next.
Alfred University
Founded in 1836 as a select school, Alfred University is the second-oldest coeducational institution in the United States and the oldest in New York State. From the beginning, Alfred University took the unusual stance that everyone – regardless of gender, ethnicity or religion – deserved an equal education.
The college offers a business minor in Family Busienes and Entrepreneurship.
University of Alberta: Business Family Institute
The inspiration of the Alberta Business Family Institute evolved when a group of Alberta business families, members of the University of Alberta School of Business and founders of the Business Families Foundation identified and discussed the need to offer research-based educational programs to assist business families.
University of Bristish Colombia: Problem Solving for the Family Business through Effective Communications Course
In Problem Solving for the Family Business through Effective Communications, you may explore the nature of the family-business overlay and will learn how to apply communications and problem-solving skills to lessen the potentially negative impact of family dynamics on the business while capitalizing on the positive potential of the family. Particular emphasis will be placed on application of course concepts and approaches to your own family business context from seminar pre-work through to case studies and action planning during the course.
University of Connecticut: Small Business Institute
The Small Business Institute (SBI) at the University of Connecticut was created in 1985 as a partnership between the School of Business and the Federal Government's Small Business Administration. Up until 1995, approximately half of the operating costs were federally provided with the balance of the matching funds provided by the Business School. At present the institute is solely supported by the Management Department in the School of Business. The Institute provides free, limited management consulting on all types of business problems for small businesses and start-up ventures throughout Connecticut. Since its inception, the SBI has served close to 1000 small businesses in over 150 towns and cities in the state. Consultants are primarily undergraduate Management majors enrolled in the Small Business consulting course.
University of Denver: Managing The Family Business Course
The learning objectives of this course are to help you do the following:
Develop an in-depth understanding of what makes family businesses unique; understand the interdisciplinary field of family business (accounting, finance, law, family therapy, behavioral science, management, organizational development, governance, etc.); develop the critical analytical thinking skills that help inside managers/executives and outside professional service advisors understand the whole family business system. You will also gain insight into ownership, business management, and family dynamics issues that impact the performance of family businesses; learn how ownership interests and action impact the family and the business; understand how family cultures and actions impact the business and the transfer of wealth; learn how the management and organization of a business impact the business-owning family and its goals; discover how family businesses impact the economy and business environment and develop an understanding of the complexities that exist in the succession planning process. Importantly you will learn the differences between content and process consulting to family businesses.
University of Notre Dame, (Indiana): Family Business Strategy Course
Family Business Strategy – Open to all Notre Dame Students, this family business fundamentals course surveys the spectrum of family business topics from introductory perspectives. Students have the opportunity to interview key persons from their family owned business and business owning family or from the company and family they have targeted for this course.
The course provides definition of the family business, identifies leadership challenges, examines succession challenges, and identifies best practices for managing the family firm. It looks at the role of governance, non-family managers and the family culture in sustaining a competitive advantage in the marketplace as it looks lastly at the evolving and changing family business.
University of Oregon: Family Business Course
The BA 463/BA 567 Family Business Management Course addresses aspects of managing an established family business, on a day-to-day basis and planning for succession to the next generation: values, life cycles, marketing strategies, succession, conflict resolution, communications, legal and financial aspects, estate planning, governance and philanthropy.
Family business issues of new companies are a small part of the course content; this is not a course in entrepreneurship or in small business management, and is not immediately relevant for students who want to start their own companies.
University of Pittsburgh: Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence
The Family Enterprise Center's (FEC) mission is to protect, preserve, and promote closely-held family-owned businesses throughout southwestern Pennsylvania by providing insights into pivotal issues that affect a family business through leading-edge educational programs and peer advisory activities.
Baylor University: Institute for Family Business
The Institute is committed to helping more family businesses survive to the second and third generations and beyond. Family businesses possess the strengths and values of both the business and the family, but their separate needs present challenges which can threaten the businesses' continuity. Family businesses need support which is sensitive to this inherent tension. The Institute provides this support.
University of San Francisco: Gellert Faoundation Family Business Center
The Gellert Foundation Family Business Center at the University of San Francisco’s School of Business and Management is committed to working with family businesses to promote networking, facilitate and open exchange of ideas, and advance the field through consultation and scholarship.
The goal of the Gellert Foundation Family Business Center is to provide academic programs that support the current and future managers of family-owned firms. The graduates of our undergraduate and MBA programs assume leadership positions in family businesses (large and small) around the globe.
University of Southern Maine: Institute for Family Business
The Institute for Family-Owned Business is dedicated to supporting and strengthening the approximately 80% of businesses that are owned, operated and cherished by two or more members of the same family. The Institute serves family business owners, executives and employees through a wide variety of seminars, workshops and networking opportunities with peers in other family firms.
University of The Pacific: Institute for Family Business
The Institute offers: Seminars, conferences and workshops to address the concerns of family businesses; forums for family businesses to share their views on relevant topics; and promotion of family business perspectives to regional and national interests.
University of Tulsa: Family Owned Business Institute
In addition, the Tulsa University College of Business offers specialized courses in Family Business Management covering the legal, management, and financial challenges unique to family-owned enterprises. Together, the College of Business Administration and the Family-Owned Business Institute at the University of Tulsa are providing students and family-business owners with the tools to meet today's challenges and preserve the successful family business heritage for generations to come.
University of Wyoming: Online Course to Help Rural Families Operate Their Business
A holistic approach to operating a rural family business is the focus of a 15-week online course offered by the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service (CES) in conjunction with agencies in Canada and Australia.
Bryant University: Institute for Family Enterprise
Bryant University is a private university where education is designed just for you. Deepen critical thinking and communication skills, master technology, discover new interests, and achieve success as you define it.
The Institute for Family Enterprise (IFE) was established at Bryant University in 1990. It is dedicated to helping family-owned firms manage the unique challenges associated with operating a successful family enterprise.
California State University: Family Business Dynamics Course
Family Business Dynamics is devoted to the study of the unique issues faced by family owned and operated businesses. The textbooks, lectures and outside real-world projects explore the business, personal and inter-personal issues associated with family owned businesses. We focus on how family dynamics, including leadership, sibling position and other factors influence the company and the family. Strategies for successful business planning, succession planning, ownership, estate planning, compensation, family meetings, mission statements, conflict resolution, use of outside consultants and Boards are all included. We also study current national and international family business cases so that students have a working knowledge of real life situations. Students also have the opportunity to interview family owners of local businesses and discuss family dynamics.
California State University: Family Business Institute
The Family Business Institute (FBI) is a public-private alliance among the School of Business & Public Administration (BPA) at California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB); Kern County small and family owned businesses; and local service professionals and practitioners. Programs and support for FBI activities are administered through the Business Research and Education Center of BPA.
Concordia University: Centre for Small Business and Entrepreneurial Studies
The economic importance of small business in Canada has gained increasing attention in recent years. Statistics indicate that 30% of the nation's gross national product can be credited to the activities of small business, a category to which 97% of Canadian companies belong. In addition, this group accounts for 42% of all private sector employment.
Up until recent time however, a disproportionate share of research has been directed toward the problems faced by large organizations. Similarly, business schools were inclined to train prospective managers in the resolution of problems likely to be encountered by major corporations. Scant attention was paid to the development of entrepreneurial skills or to the preparation of students for a career in small business.
In keeping with Concordia's reputation for sensitivity to the needs of the community, the Centre for Small Business and Entrepreneurial Studies (CSBES) was established in 1984.
Erasmus University Rotterdam: European Family Business Institute
The primary goal of EFBI is to enhance our knowledge about family owned- and managed- firms, as well as other firms with substantial family ownership, both with respect to how individual firms function as well as the impact of family owned and managed firms on the overall economy.
EFBI places priority on academic research and teaching in the field of family business. Although the majority of programs are aimed at university students, the Erasmus Masterclass 'De Ondernemende Familie' (in Dutch) is a program designed specifically for family business executives.
Fairleigh Dickenson University: Rothman Institute of Entrepreneurial Studies
The mission of FDU’s Rothman Institute of Entrepreneurial Studies is to foster entrepreneurship in the academic and business communities. Since 1989, the Institute has been supporting entrepreneurship and innovation by offering academic and outreach programs on the local, regional and increasingly, global levels.
Grand Valley State University: Family Owned Business Institute
The Grand Valley State University's Family Owned Business Institute's mission is to promote, preserve, influence, and impact family businesses through quality academic research, curriculum, and information services.
If you are represent a Chartered University that offers research, training, or consultancy in Family Business and would like to be listed in this section, please use the form on our contact page and let us know.
Associations For Family Business Consultants, And Owners Of Family Business
This section is reserved for Professional Associations representing those with interests in family business. If you are looking for a University Course in Family Business or Family Business Consulting please browse the previous section of this page.
The Association of Family Business Advisers
The Association of Family Business Advisors is a newly formed UK association, although its roots can be traced to the Family Business Institute, an American based organisation formed by like-minded professionals in the 1980s. FFI now has membership in almost every developed country in the world and has established training programmes for professionals working in the field of family business.
The Family Business Network
The Family Business Network is the world's leading network of business owning families, promoting the success and sustainability of family business. The Family Business Network is committed to giving and sharing experiences and insights in an atmosphere of confidentiality and trust.
The Family Business Institute
Provides complete solutions to help family businesses maximize their family and organizational success. When it comes to family companies, business operations often get in the way of harmonious family life, and dysfunctional family patterns get in the way of harmonious business life. The traditional, textbook, technical solutions to most problems associated with family companies simply don’t work because they fail to take into account all four dimensions of family business life
Family Firm Institute
The Family Firm Institute (FFI) is an international professional membership organization dedicated to providing interdisciplinary education and networking opportunities for family business and family wealth advisors, consultants, educators and researchers and to increasing public awareness about trends and developments in the family business and family wealth fields.
The Canadian Association For Family Enterprise
The Canadian Association of Family Enterprise (CAFE) is a not-for-profit national organization established in 1983, dedicated to promoting the well-being and understanding of families in business.
The Scottish Family Business Association
The Scottish Family Business Association is the definitive authority on family business issues in Scotland - created for family business people, by family business people!
If you are the secretary, or another officer empowered by the committee of your professional association, and believe you should be listed here please use the form on our contact page and let us know. We welcome networking and will be pleased to consider your group.
This list created March 2007, and reviewed March 2008. It is provided as a service and no liability will be accepted by either The Principal, or Fellows of The Family Business School for any error or omission.
