Family Capitalism: Best Practices in Owner and Leadership

In most countries family businesses make up between 50 - 95% of business entities. Families control 30% of the Fortune 500 companies. These owners and their businesses are often an important part of the social fabric in local communities, and increasingly the international economy. Despite this, Family Capitalism, or ownership, has been seen as synonymous with stagnation, conflict and crises. The authors focus on how family owners avoids these pitfalls, and how emotional resources develop strategizing capacities.

The book explores how successful family businesses innovate and create Visionary Ownership, and implement it. Two crucial leadership capacities are introduced; Leadership of Paradox and Distributed Leadership.

A renewed understanding of family businesses show how the family can generate unique strategic advantages in stewardship, succession, long-term thinking, risk management and building social capital. It shows a different perspective regarding value creation in the economy. The book provides new insights for family owners, advisors, leaders as well as scholars.

The findings are from a best-practice research project with cases from China, USA, Germany, Colombia, Israel, Tanzania, France and Sweden. Applying strategy-as-practice theory shows how family owners, across different cultures and sectors, use generic ownership strategies and experiment, such as with cluster ownership and creating new ventures in succession.

Gry Osnes is a clinically trained and licensed psychotherapist and family therapist. She works with owners, entrepreneurs, with succession processes, coaching of boards and interpersonal dynamics. She coaches and advises focusing on individuals and groups increasing their transitional and strategic capacity, using both system and modern psychoanalytic theory on transitions, authority and change. Her earlier research, and PhD. publication, is on succession dynamics in different types of organization and entrepreneurship. She develops action research and collaborative research and was the academic leader of the research project leading to this book.

James D Grady is a US based organizational behavior consultant. He is co-founder of Pivot Point Business Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in the behavioral implications (eg. decreased performance, productivity and profitability) of organizations introducing and implementing organizational change—with specific focus on organizational culture, structure and overall effectiveness.

Victoria M Grady

is currently Director of MBA/MSM Graduate Programs and an Assistant Professor Management/Organizational Behavior in the School of Business at George Mason University located just outside Washington DC. Her consulting practice includes family businesses, federal government institutions, non-profit organizations, higher education, and health related institutions.

Mona Haug 

works as an executive coach in Germany. Clients include national and international senior executives, managers and teams to accelerate effectiveness and enhance efficiency to achieve excellent project outcomes. Her coaching work spans different industries to include major family business companies, public enterprises, political organizations and many more.

Liv Hök

is a Licensed Psychologist, Psychotherapist and Organisation and Role Analyst in Sweden offering support and organisational psychological services to individuals, small workplaces and large companies. Each assignment is conducted in close consultation with the primary client and the approach is based on task orientation and functional support.

Olive Yanli Hou

is a communication adviser with expertise in promoting business and cultural exchange between Europe and Asia. She writes and contributes to the Chinese business community publications such as China Family Business Review, Economic Weekly and China Entrepreneur Magazine

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Gry Osnes

is a clinically trained and licensed Psychotherapist and family therapist, she works with owners, entrepreneurs with succession processes, coaching of boards and/or interpersonal personal dynamics. She develops collaborative research projects and her PhD research focused on succession dynamics in different organisations.

Angelica Uribe

colombian lawyer enterpreneur with a real estate and education business. In the recent years worked in the real estate family business and the expansion of Colegio San Patricio a co-ed girl's school in Bogota, Colombia.