Entrepreneurs in Every Generation: How Successful Family Businesses Develop Their Next Leaders

by Allan R. Cohen

Companies that are owned and run by families need to develop leadership and entrepreneurial skills just like any other company, but family firms face obstacles that "hire and fire" companies don't. Family dynamics rarely perfectly mirror the best practices in the latest Harvard Business Review.

So what factors in the family and work environments enable the creation of leaders who share the entrepreneurial fire of the founders? Do specific education, training, and experiential pathways tip the odds of entrepreneurial success across generations? How do some firms manage to bypass or work through the family conflicts, disparate visions of the future, sibling rivalries, generational struggles, or external disasters that seem to mark the demise of so many family businesses?

Allan Cohen and Pramodita Sharma, scholars with deep professional and personal roots in family businesses, draw on extensive global research to reveal the secrets of enterprising families, using examples of both firms that flourished and those that failed. They describe the practices that characterize entrepreneurial individuals, families, and organizations and offer detailed advice on how to develop and implement those practices. Each chapter ends with a worksheet that helps listeners create an action plan for building entrepreneurs in every generation.

Worldwide, most businesses are family businesses, from behemoths like Walmart to your favorite little restaurant. This book offers profoundly practical advice that will ensure they thrive into the next century.

Genres: Buisness

Audible Audio

First published May 2, 2016

Reviews

[Ruangwith · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Entrepreneurs in Every Generation" provides an insightful look into the world of entrepreneurship across various generations. The authors, Allan Cohen and Pramodita Sharma, adeptly present different entrepreneurial styles and approaches, emphasizing the evolution and constant reinvention of entrepreneurship throughout history.

However, the book could have delved deeper into the challenges and conflicts that arise between different generations of entrepreneurs. While it acknowledges these conflicts, its exploration of potential solutions or strategies for overcoming such hurdles seems a bit lacking.

The book is a commendable effort in capturing the spirit of entrepreneurship, yet it could have benefited from more diverse case studies. While the authors have presented a variety of examples, the focus is primarily on Western societies. A more global perspective would have enriched the content and made it more universally applicable.

Furthermore, while the book is engaging and well-written, its structure can be slightly confusing at times. The transition between different subjects is not always smooth, which can disrupt the reading flow. This could have been mitigated with a clearer organization of chapters or segments.

[陈 元伟 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, a lot of real life examples of how family businesses make it work for their current and future generations so that the business survives for a few hundred years.