Entrepreneurial Family Firms

Course Director: Mattias Nordqvist

Welcome to a course that introduces you to the widespread, important, and exciting world of family businesses! Family businesses represent the most common form of business organisation across the world; both among established firms and new ventures. They dominate most industries, and they are not only small or medium-sized enterprises. Founders and business families own and control many large private companies (e.g., Ikea, Lego, Bonnier) and they are controlling owners of well-known publicly listed companies such as H&M, Investor, Ford, LVMH, Volkswagen, Walmart and Samsung. Indeed, many of the world’s most famous brands are family businesses. While family firms share many important characteristics and challenges, they are also different in several ways that are crucial to understand to be successful in this organizational setting.

In addition, much of the capital flowing into entrepreneurial firms and start-ups as well as established firms with growth intentions originates from business families family offices and family investment companies. This means that family businesses and family offices form a crucial force for the economic, entrepreneurial, and social development around the world. In short, family ownership is a central force in most economies and societies around the world. Given that family businesses represent the most common form of business organisation, it is very likely that you will work in or with a family business in your career. This course will provide you with an understanding of why it is important to consider their unique characteristics to be successful in your career.

Working in or for family businesses and family offices are related to distinct challenges and opportunities for owners, managers, advisors, employees and consultants. This is because family businesses are different compared to other types of firms. They have potential strengths that can be used to seize specific value-creating opportunities. But they also face potential challenges that risk destroying value. Interestingly, both the strengths and the challenges are related to the overlap between the family and the firm. To successfully build a family business or family office, regardless of whether it is a start-up or an established company, it is important to understand and to be able to strategically leverage the positive uniqueness of family firms, as well as to deal with the challenges arising from the firm’s connection to a family.

This course covers important themes relevant for starting, managing, growing and taking over family businesses and family offices. Examples of themes in the course are characteristics of family enterprises, strategy, governance, succession, sustainability, non-family management, organising and leading family offices, innovation, innovation, conflicts and relationships and advising and consulting to family enterprises.

The aim of the course is to introduce concepts and tools that can enhance students’ understanding of important perspectives on the challenges and opportunities facing family enterprises. The course has a very strong practice connection and includes many practical learning situations with real case studies and live case guest lectures that illustrate and allow for an in-depth understanding of family business challenges and opportunities. The course blends examples and experiences from a Nordic setting with a strong global focus and outlook.

The overall purpose of this course is to help students develop a skillset that allows them to effectively apply, in practice, appropriate concepts, theories and experiences presented during the course, as well as to critically examine the strengths and weaknesses of these concepts, theories and experiences.

Who is this course for?

The course is designed for students who are interested in working in family firms, family investment companies and family offices (e.g. as entrepreneurs, managers, owners) or with family firms (e.g. as advisors, consultants, board members, bankers) or who come from a family firm and considers getting involved in the family's business (e.g. next generation family owners). Given that family firms represent the most common type of business organization in most industries and countries, it is very likely students with a business school degree will work in or with family firms at some point in their careers.

Faculty and speakers

In addition to the course director, who is an internationally leading researcher, educator and advisor on family business, the course features many guest speakers who are successful owners, board members and executives in important family enterprises and family offices. There will also be guest speakers who work as advisors and consultants to family enterprises and family offices.

Teaching and learning activities

The course uses different learning and teaching formats with the purpose of blending theories and concepts based on leading academic research, with extensive practice and experience through real-life examples, live cases and guest speakers sharing their most pressing challenges. There are lectures led by the faculty primarily in the beginning of the course, but most of the sessions are in the form of class presentations and discussions around readings, case studies (live cases and written teaching cases) and guest speakers from various family enterprises, family offices and other stakeholders. Students will also work with a real challenge in a relevant family business setting.

Additional information

This is an open elective course taught at SSE for SSE students and for students within the framework for Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship (SSES). The course is also an elective Global Network for Advanced Management (GNAM) course. For more information about GNAM please visit: https://globalnetwork.io/.

The course is a digital online.

All registered students will receive an email with login information to the Canvas approximately 1,5 weeks before their course starts.

Course Administrator: marianne.castren@sses.se

Upon completion of the course, students should be able to:

1. Exhibit a deep understanding of central characteristics, opportunities and challenges that different types of family firms face and how they are different compared to non-family firms
2. Describe and integrate main theories, models and concepts within the field of family firms, and explain how these can be applied to understand different types of entrepreneurial family firms
3. Demonstrate an advanced ability to analyse common themes essential for building and growing entrepreneurial family firms, from both a theoretical and practical perspective.
4. Demonstrate an advanced ability to integrate and reflect upon common challenges and key decisions facing entrepreneurial family firms and to build appropriate strategies to address these challenges and key decisions in practice.

General entry requirements.

Academic articles, practitioner articles, teaching cases and news paper clips (2-3 per session). Optional course book.

More detailed information will be announced in connection to the start of the course and communicated to enrolled participants. 

Assessment

Assessment for the course will be continuous and is carried throughout the different course activities. Each assessment task is weighted in relation to its importance in the overall assessment of the course. The student’s results from the different assessment tasks are added up to a total course score that will then translate into the final grade for the course.

Examination is both individual and group based. The majority of the grade is individual. The individual examination consists of assignments linked to cases studies/guest lectures and a final take home exam. The group examination is in the form of a in class case analysis assignment and a live case project work where the student group works with a challenge in a real business setting. Students will have to pass all course assignments in order to receive a passing grade. A student’s grade will depend on performance on both written (individual and group) assignment and oral presentations.

Attendance

Attendance is highly recommended for the best learning experience given the interactive nature of the course, and the many guests and presentations in class. Some sessions requires attendance for a passing grade on course assignments linked to those sessions. We apply a camera on policy for the digital sessions.

Grading for courses offered within the Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship (SSES)
Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship (SSES) is a collaboration of six schools in the Stockholm area. In order to harmonize the SSE grading scale with that of the other participating schools and to adapt to the pedagogical design of the courses, SSE has decided to use the following grading scale:

90-100 Excellent
75-89 Very good
60-74 Good
50-59 Pass
0-49 Fail

Find the course schedule in TimeEdit

Have you been granted educational support because of a documented disability? If so, please contact the course director as soon as possible so that adequate accommodations can be made.

Contact specialneeds@hhs.se if you have questions about being granted educational support or need a copy of your educational support certificate.

For more information, visit the Specific Educational Needs page on the Student Hub (login required).