SMEs are the backbone of the Swiss economy and more than 90 % of all SMEs in Switzerland are so called family businesses or family-owned firms. Family businesses are characterized by many particularities as they unite three usually independent systems: that of the business, that the family and that of ownership. These systems are characterized by divergent logics as for example the business is forward looking, innovation is key, relationships relay on contracts, competition is important, and the overarching goals are money and power. The family, in contrast, is rather backward looking, history and legacy are important, relationships are based on mutual trust, equality is important, and the overarching goal is love. Hence, the ownership perspective of the family-owned business has the crucial but difficult task to bring these two fundamentally different worlds of the business and the family together. In this course, we learn more about specific strategies to successfully manage this specific type of firm by looking at specific topics from the strategic management field and by adopting them into the context of family businesses characterized and strongly influenced by this diverging logic from the business and the (owning-) family. More concrete, we for example will look at topics such as innovation, succession, turnaround management, stakeholder management, market strategies, governance aspects, philanthropy, family offices, legal aspects and family dynamics.
- Teacher: Alexandra Bertschi
- Teacher: Milena Zosso