Follow Up Questions: Family New/Renewed Attention to Issues of Their Collective Ownership Research Project Proposal

As family enterprises have evolved, so have their need and willingness to enhance leadership talent—that is, to professionalize. This evolution serves to make practical the differentiation of ownership roles from business management roles.

This research should:

• Explore the impact of professionalization on a family’s shift in attention to its ownership. For example, what specifically have family shareholders done to more effectively attend to their roles as owners, both with regard to their involvement and their oversight?
• Think beyond structural enhancements, such as family councils, to developments that address differences in age and interest among shareholders and multiple generations and increasing numbers of family.
• Point to evidence that demonstrates what works for improved relationships and interactions among shareholders and with the business — under what circumstances and over what time horizon?
• Shed light on how owner behaviors and decisions affect their companies both in helpful and less helpful ways. What does this mean for the knowledge and skills needed by advisors?

General Feedback:
* More information on the proposed sources of data and how will you gain access to them, especially in the timeframe of this effort, would be useful.
* Further elaboration on how the proposed research would be applied, e.g., how you will draw on academic research and in what specific ways advisors might apply the results, would be useful.