Generation to Generation - Hardcover

Kelin E. Gersick; John A. Davis; Marion McCollom Hampton; Ivan Lansberg

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 087584555X ISBN 13: 9780875845555

Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press, 1997

Synopsis

Examines the structure and management of family-owned businesses, from small companies to multinational conglomerates, discussing how they differ from public companies and how they move through generational changes in leadership

About this title

About the Author

Kelin E. Gersick is a professor of organizational psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles, and a cofounder and senior partner of Lansberg, Gersick and Associates, a consulting and research firm specializing in family enterprise and philanthropy. John A. Davis is a senior lecturer of business administration at the Harvard Business School and president of the Owner Managed Business Institute, Santa Barbara, an international educational institute for family business specializing in consulting, customized programs, and presentations. Marion McCollom Hampton is an associate professor of management at Boston University. Ivan Lansberg is a cofounder and senior partner of Lansberg, Gersick and Associates.

Reviews

The authors claim that between 65 to 80 percent of all businesses worldwide are family owned or managed, including up to 40 percent of the Fortune 500. Yet most of what we read about family businesses are sensational accounts of blood feuds and internecine battles over money and control. This study takes a more analytical look at what makes family firms different from other corporations; it grew out of the authors' collaboration at the Owner Managed Business Institute, where they worked on an ongoing project for Caterpillar, Inc., that began more than a dozen years ago. Now a multinational conglomerate, Caterpillar began as a family firm, and many of its products are distributed through family-operated dealerships. From that work, the authors developed a model that looked at these businesses from three different aspects: ownership, family, and business. They also identified four classic family-business types and here address the management issues that arise as firms evolve from one type to the next. David Rouse

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 087584555X
• ISBN 13: 9780875845555
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320