This seminar sets the intellectual context for the series by establishing the factors and supporting issues to be examined in seminars 2-6.

The British Library Conference Centre, London NW1 2DB

Seminar 1 will consider the potential for strategic thinking in family business. It will address the following: What drives success in the 1st generation, retention in the 2nd generation and oblivion in the 3rd generation? How does research in family business relate to practice? Is there an 'expectations gap' between generations on what the family business can offer? Is there a case for strategic thinking that includes the family dimension? How do managers of family firms obtain and interpret external and internal signals? Are some signals more important than others? Do family members have similar interpretations or are they significantly different? How does cognition lead to action?
Family businesses account for over 75% of all firms and employ about 50% of the national workforce. Yet less than a quarter survive to the second generation and about a seventh survive to the third generation. Various factors impact on the strategic thinking of family business. Family values and business rules often conflict,  resulting in greater tensions, particularly during a recession.  The 'family' and 'business' elements overlap and impact on the strategic behaviour of the firm as it responds to changing environmental dynamics.

Presentations by:
• Professor Leif Melin, Director of the Centre for Family Enterprise, Jonkoping Business School
• Dr Panikkos Poutziouris, President, International Family Enterprise Research Academy
• Grant Gordon, Director General, Institute for Family Business
• Nick Smith, International Centre for Families in Business
• Ivor and Gilad Tiefenbrun, Linn Products Ltd. There will be responses to the presentations, and a panel discussion will follow with questions from the floor. A short tour of British Library reading rooms for management and business will be available for up to 30 people, which must be booked in advance. 


Contact  Natasha Fay or Nicholas O Regan for further information.
Please note this seminar is being held by the British Academy of Management please visit the BAM website for more information.