Course 2025-2026 a.y.

Main topics of the course:

• The relevance, distinctive features, and main challenges of family businesses.
• The family business system: key actors and underlying dynamics.
• Core levers for successful family business strategies: family values, ownership strategy, governance (family and corporate), leadership models, professional management, and integration of non-family stakeholders.
• Managing generational transitions: leadership and ownership succession.
• Conflict management in family businesses.
• Advising family businesses: approaches and best practices.
• Case studies of Italian and international family firms.

• Illustrate the fundamental theories underpinning the competitiveness and continuity of family businesses.

• Understand the family business system, including its key components and dynamics.

• Describe the core levers that contribute to long-term success and sustainability in family firms.

• Explain the key success factors that ensure both the continuity of the business and the longevity of the business-owning family. 

• Analyse family-, ownership-, and business-related issues to assess long-term success in specific contexts.

• Develop strategic proposals to address the challenges faced by family businesses.

• Plan for the continuity of a family business across generations.

• Apply organisational, teamwork, and communication skills, particularly through participation in field projects or group presentations.

• Lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Collaborative Works / Assignments

The course is highly interactive and focuses on complex decision-making processes. In addition to face-to-face lectures, students engage in case discussions that apply models and frameworks to real family business problems, enriched by live testimonials from family firms and supporting institutions. Students are encouraged to actively participate, develop their own insights, and share them with peers, instructors, and guest speakers. Those attending classes can deepen their learning through the team-based field project, which enhances their ability to analyse and address real-world family business issues.

Lectures
The lectures provide the foundational knowledge and theoretical frameworks essential to understanding family businesses. Delivered by the course instructors, they combine academic insights with practical examples to explain complex concepts such as family governance, succession, and strategic management in family businesses.

Guest Speaker’s Talks (In-Class or Remote)
Guest speakers—such as family business owners, executives, and experts from institutions supporting family enterprises—are invited to share their real-world experiences and insights. These sessions provide students with firsthand perspectives on family business challenges and practices. Talks may take place in person or via remote connection, allowing flexibility and access to a diverse range of voices. Students have the opportunity to engage in Q&A, fostering dialogue between theory and practice.

Collaborative Works / Assignments
Students can work in teams of four to five on a field project involving the in-depth analysis of a real family business case. This collaborative assignment is designed to develop critical thinking, teamwork, and communication skills by applying course concepts to practical challenges. Each team produces diagnostic insights and strategic proposals, encouraging active learning and the integration of multiple viewpoints. Detailed instructions are provided in the first week of class.

Students who attend classes and participate in the team field project will be evaluated as follows:

• 50%: Final written exam.

• 50%: Collaborative Work/ Team field project.

The final exam (closed book) consists of:

• 1 open question on a short (4–5 page) family business case not discussed in class, aimed at testing the student’s ability to apply theories and models to real situations.

• 1 open question to assess the understanding of key concepts presented in course materials.

Note: Exchange students can take the exam in December (on the special exam date reserved for them).

Students who either attend classes without doing the team field project, or do not attend classes at all, will be evaluated 100% based on the final written exam. Participation in the field project is not available for non-attending students.

The final exam (closed book) consists of:

• 1 open question on the additional book chosen by the student (see the “Teaching Materials” section for details).

• 1 open question on a short (4–5 page) family business case not discussed in class, testing the ability to apply theories and models to real-life situations.

• 1 open question testing the understanding of key concepts from the course materials.

Note: Exchange students can take the exam in December (on the special exam date reserved for them).

• D. Montemerlo, P. Morosetti (editors), Strategic Management in Family Business: Selected Readings, Egea, Milano, 2025.

• Course materials include slides and case studies, uploaded session by session on Bboard.

• D. Montemerlo, P. Morosetti (editors), Strategic Management in Family Business: Selected Readings, Egea, Milano, 2025.

• Course materials include slides and case studies, uploaded session by session on Bboard.
• In addition, students are required to select one textbook from the following options:

  • M. Bennedsen, J.P.H. Fan, The Family Business Map, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

  • A.R. Cohen, P. Sharma, Entrepreneurs in Every Generation, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2016.