Family Firm Institute Podcast

FFI Practitioner is pleased to feature a podcast discussion with Doug Baumoel, the recipient of the 2023 FFI Interdisciplinary Award. In Doug’s conversation with Jordan Rich, he reflects on the history of his own family’s enterprise, conflict resolution, and thinking like an engineer.

FFI Practitioner is pleased to feature a podcast discussion with Claudia Astrachan, Anneleen Michiels, and Randy Waesche. In their conversation, they discuss the topic of their session at the upcoming FFI Global Conference, “Incentive, Punishment, Reward, Control: The Many Misunderstood and Underexplored Manifestations of Money in the Business Family.”    

FFI Practitioner is pleased to invite Adam Ifshin, CEO of DLC Management, and Rocki-Lee DeWitt, Professor of Management in the Grossman School of Business at the University of Vermont to the podcast. In their conversation, they discuss the topic of their session at the upcoming FFI Global Conference, “Evolving the Entrepreneurial Culture in a Changing Talent Landscape.”

FFI on Friday is pleased to feature Grace Lordan, Associate Professor of behavioral science and Founding Director of The Inclusion Initiative at the London School of Economics, in this wide-ranging conversation about the future of work, including pay equity and the possibilities of AI. She is delivering the closing keynote at the FFI Global Conference in October, “Women and the Future of Work: Within and without the multi-generational family.”

FFI on Friday is pleased to feature Barnet Schecter, an independent historian whose books include “The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution.” He is delivering a keynote at the FFI Global Conference in October, entitled “It’s A Family Affair: Conquering New York, from Revolution to Rising Seas.”

In this podcast, Doug Gray, PhD, discusses how positive psychology can help family enterprises flourish. Topics include the concept of flourishing in family businesses, the PERMA model, the use of 360 assessments, open communication, and the role of advisors in the 360 process.

Francesco Barbera, PhD, discusses the need to understand the differences among family firms and the implications of applying a homogeneous view. He explores the theory of family science and socio-emotional wealth, highlighting the variations within individual families. The podcast also explores the sources and types of heterogeneity among family firms and the benefits for advisors. Plus, it delves into the unique complexities of family business and its combination of economic, technical, and human aspects.

FFI Practitioner is pleased to host a conversation with GEN Faculty member and FFI Fellow Dennis Jaffe, Marta Widz, and Hakim Benbadra, to discuss models for managing conflict in enterprise families. This discussion uses as its launching point the FFI GEN course 502, “Evolving Family Enterprise Governance: Right-Fitting Governance Across Generations.” Dennis Jaffe, PhD, FFI Fellow, is a professor emeritus of organizational systems and psychology at Saybrook University and is currently Senior Research Fellow at BanyanGlobal Family Business Advisors. A recipient of the FFI Richard Beckhard Practice Award and of the FFI International Award, Dennis has published and presented widely in the field of family enterprise. Marta Widz, PhD, is a member of FFI, IFERA, and AOM and was co-chair of the 2020 FFI global conference program committee. A specialist in governance, sustainability, and family offices, she has worked with large, global, and multigenerational family businesses. She is currently working with family offices at the Wealth Management Institute in Singapore. Hakim Benbadra, ACFBA, is the VIP and Family Business Director of the Africa CEO Forum. He has an in-depth knowledge of the issues at the heart of African family businesses. Hakim works closely with owners and CEOs of family businesses across Africa supporting them in their development. He organizes events and programs dedicated to family entrepreneurs such as the Family Business Summit. For a transcript, click here.

For this week’s FFI Practitioner podcast, we are pleased to feature Pilar Marques, Associate Professor of Strategy and Family Business at the University of Girona in Spain. She is the first author of the September 2022 Family Business Review article “A Family Imprinting Approach to Nurturing Willing Successors: Evidence from Centennial Family Firms.” Family Business Review was the first scholarly journal to be published in the field of family enterprise and is part of the Research branch of FFI.

This week’s FFI Practitioner podcast concludes our series of interviews with presenters from this year’s FFI Global Conference. In this conversation, Camille Korschun and Erik Wetter, both from the Stockholm School of Economics, discuss the unique attributes of family offices that make them well-suited to engage in impact investing. Camille and Erik also share lessons that advisors from around the world can learn from their research on Nordic family offices.