Academic Symposium on Family Business

Rotterdam, 30 November 2012

The statistics are surprising: one third of Fortune 500 companies are family controlled. In the US, family firms are responsible for more than 60 per cent of the GDP and 85 per cent of all jobs. In the EU, 80 per cent of companies are family firms, accounting for 75 per cent employment. In the Netherlands, 69 per cent of firms are family owned (and that is excluding self-employed entrepreneurs), and they are estimated to contribute over half of the Dutch national product each year.

Although family business is a driver of the global economy, the field has lagged behind in terms of research interest.  We at RSM are seeking to redress the ‘not very sexy’ image of family business research. On November 30^th, 2012, the Department of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship and ERIM hosted an academic symposium in the discipline of family business. This symposium focused on leading family firms into the future. 

For this event we were honoured to welcome four distinguished scholars from family business:

• Dr Carlo Salvato
  "The role of external advisors in developing next-generation leaders"
   
• Professor Dr Michael Carney 
  "Dead money - law and the longevity of family firms"
   
• Professor Dr Danny Miller and Dr Isabelle Le Breton-Miller 
  "Managing for the long run"