In July 2023, at the IFERA conference (International Family Enterprise Research Academy), SIFB project team member Simone Møkster presented the project and preliminary findings as a working research paper to 25 conference participants. With questions and comments from participants, the topic of succession, siblings, and challenges was seen as a relevant and interesting topic for discussion.
Created in 2014, Luxembourg School of Business is an international graduate business school focused on delivering high-quality management education in the heart of Europe. The mission of Luxembourg School of Business is to provide an inspiring and multicultural learning environment for current and aspiring business leaders from Luxembourg as well as from across Europe and the world. In achieving its educational and academic goals, the School uses contemporary teaching and research methods, promotes cultural and intellectual diversity. The School partners with the international business community and prepares learners to prosper in a complex global business world.
Luxembourg School of Business offers a part-time MBA for experienced professionals, a full-time Master in Management for undergraduates, as well as specialised courses for individuals, and tailor-made training for companies. Our professors are academics and business leaders: some of them are executives from multinational organisations while others are affiliated with institutions such as M.I.T., University of Michigan, Duke University, Harvard University, ESADE Business School and more.
Five esteemed institutions are collaborating on the project, including Luxembourg School of Business (Luxembourg) as a project leader, EDHEC Business School (France), Jonkoping International Business School (Sweden), Zagreb School of Economics and Management (Croatia), and WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management (Germany).
The main objective of the SiFB project is to prepare and develop the program for the owners (1st generation) and next-generation (2nd or 3rd generation) that will help them in a more efficient and successful succession of the family business.
An outcome of the SiFB project is a tailor-made, modular online learning program with a specific focus on family business needs and challenges. The online educational platform is based on microlearning philosophy and short video lectures to help solve the most common challenges during the succession process.
Additionally, videos and stories showcasing best practices from other successfully transferred family businesses will enrich the program.
SiFB’s online educational platform will offer a flexible way of learning and modular course design for young entrepreneurs by using the microlearning methodology. Successors and predecessors can adjust their learning pace using new digital methods and advancing digital skills.
WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management is a leading German business school with an exceptional national and international reputation. WHU offers academic programs and continuing education for executives throughout their career. Founded in 1984 on the initiative of the Koblenz Chamber of Commerce and Industry, WHU has become a model for future-oriented research and teaching in business economics. WHU means ‘Excellence in Management Education’ and pursues this goal in its three core areas of activity: academic programs, research, and knowledge transfer in general management. WHU’s graduates, research and profitable collaboration with business partners demonstrates the School’s success in achieving its mission.
The Institute of Family Business and Mittelstand at WHU (ifbm@WHU) is a thought leader in the field of family business and small and medium-sized enterprises. With a dedicated team of scholars and practitioners, we aim to study different aspects of family firms, hidden champions as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. Our most current research projects, for instance, aim to advance our understanding of innovation, leadership and employee satisfaction, succession, inertia, business ethics and financing of family firms as well as family offices.
But creating new insights is not enough. We also strive to discuss, transfer, and extend those insights in discussions with practitioners. This works out best by maintaining a continuous dialogue amongst scholars and practitioners. Our aim is to generate impact for family businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises on a regional, national and international level.
EDHEC Business School is one of the top four business schools in France. Operating as a not-for-profit association, EDHEC is classified as a private higher education institution with a public interest mission. Founded in Lille in 1906 by entrepreneurs attached to humanist values, the School maintains privileged relations with the business world and dispenses education based on innovative teaching methods and the academic excellence of its professors. Underpinned by a unique and pioneering entrepreneurship model, the School teaches managers the skills they need to best grasp the issues of business, as well as the open-mindedness and agility required to invent new models. EDHEC stands out today as an internationally-renowned higher education institution featuring among the top 10 management schools in Europe.
EDHEC Family Business Chair‘s mission is to contribute to the development and transmission of responsible entrepreneurship by inspiring family businesses and their stakeholders through research, by training them with dedicated and tailor-made programmes, and by proposing events and other initiatives to share best practices Through the scientific study of family businesses in different socio-economic, cultural and fiscal contexts, the Chair contributes to the creation and dissemination of knowledge on good practices in the governance and transmission of these businesses. Its work is disseminated on a large scale to key players in this sector through scientific articles, case studies, teaching materials, training courses, professional articles and podcasts, contributions to the press and media, and presentations in various forums. The work of the Chair inspires the principles of action of family businesses and their stakeholders to respond to the crisis of today’s financial capitalism and to sustain responsible family capitalism over the long term.
JIBS’s Centre for Family Entrepreneurship and Ownership (CeFEO) is an internationally oriented research and learning center, that combines academic excellence and practical relevance, in the fields of family entrepreneurship and ownership.
Founded in 2005, CeFEO is a leading research center in the field of family business research and education. With more than 50 researchers firmly based in Jönköping and a strong international position and impact. CeFEO has a wide network of universities, business schools, scholars and educators around the world and playes an important role on the frontier of family business research and education.
Ongoing focused research and teaching activities related to family business and ownership issues, contribute to the internationally leading position that Jönköping International Business School (JIBS) holds within the area of entrepreneurship and business renewal. JIBS is internationally recognized as a strong research environment for family business scholarship and this is prioritized within JIBS’s strategy for future growth.
CeFEO is No. 1 in Europe and No. 2 in the world in the field of family business research, producing academic research, commissioned research, practitioner-oriented books, as well as seminars and training courses for practitioners across Sweden. CeFEO is an integrated part of JIBS and contributes actively to the school’s three focus areas: Entrepreneurship, Ownership and Renewal. We follow the guiding principles of being international at heart, entrepreneurial in mind and responsible in action.
The leading idea of CeFEO and its activities is to combine academic excellence and practical relevance. We have an ambition to be a natural partner for both international researchers and family firm owners/managers, as well as for advisors and other actors interested in family enterprising and ownership. We host visiting family business scholars and doctoral students. We provide doctoral education and organize international workshops and conferences attracting leading scholars in the field.
CeFEO is actively engaged in research, education, and outreach initiatives.
The Zagreb School of Economics and Management was founded in 2002 in Croatia. The business school provides undergraduate education in Economics and Management; Business Law, Mathematics and also provides graduate education, MBA degree in 11 specializations, ranging from finance, marketing, accounting, management, human resources, marketing, etc.
ZSEM is focused on providing high-quality undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs. The business school has over 150 partner universities in more than 55 countries worldwide, allowing students to gain international experience during their studies, or even enrol into a double degree program at their graduate level.
ZSEM is Croatia’s best business school according to Eduniversal’s global ranking. For many years, ZSEM has been educating Croatia’s future economic and business experts and has become a center for thought and discussion on contemporary economic and business issues in Croatia and the wider CE region. With more than 1,000 students and more than 2,800 alumni, ZSEM’s community is continuously growing. Every major corporation and institution in Croatia has employed ZSEM graduates, while our alumni have also made their mark on society by becoming entrepreneurs and researchers.
In 2013, the Zagreb School of Economics and Management became an AACSB accredited business school. This enabled it to enter the exclusive top 5% of the most outstanding business schools in the world. The accreditation rearmed the status of ZSEM as the leading business school in Croatia. Founded in 1916, the Association of Advanced Collegiate Schools of Business is the longest-serving international institution with the mission to advance quality management education worldwide through accreditation, thought leadership, and value-added services. It is worth noting that the exclusive club of accredited institutions includes renowned universities from across the globe, such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and many others. The Zagreb School of Economics and Management has passed the stringent criteria imposed on the best schools in the world. Six years later, in 2019, ZSEM achieved the prestigious AACSB reaccreditation.
