COLLABORATIVE EVENTS
WIFU offers collaborative events with the following partners and supports them by providing content and speakers:
WITTEN CONGRESS FOR FAMILY BUSINESSES
The Witten Congress for Family Businesses is designed and hosted by a Witten/Herdecke University student organisation team. With over 300 attendees, it is Europe’s biggest congress of its kind and is especially unusual in that it is only open to members of family businesses and business families. The closely personal atmosphere this creates has been highly acclaimed and appreciated for many years by everyone who has come. There are talks and workshops relating to its key theme on both days of the congress. The congress’ Successor Academy is an event format tailored to tomorrow’s family shareholders. In workshops and excursions developed specially for the younger generation, attendees are given an opportunity to examine their very own personal questions and discuss them together.
SYMPOSIUM ON
COMPANY HISTORY
This symposium was established in collaboration with the Gesellschaft für Unternehmensgeschichte (GuG) e.V. (Company History Society), and regularly convenes to examine different themes relating to the historical circumstances of family businesses and business families. The aim is to encourage and support family businesses in examining their own histories. In various modules, the event aims to provide members of business families and family businesses with food for thought about how to handle the topic within their own business families. The event is designed exclusively for family entrepreneurs, top managers from outside families and members of business families. This produces a particularly shielded and private space for a very personal mutual exchange. Past topics (selection): ‘Conflicts in family businesses’, ‘Family businesses and their women’.
OWNERS FORUM
The Owners Forum is an international platform for leading family businesses. Annual forums in Europe, India, Latin America, the USA and the Middle East offer families that own large international family businesses a framework for confidential discussions and strategic collaborations. As well as topics around family entrepreneurship, the focus is on global issues and personal discussions about actual international cooperation opportunities. The Owners Forum observes a strict no-media policy. Since its inception in 2008, the Owners Forum has collaborated closely with WIFU and the Family Businesses Foundation. You will find detailed information at the Owners Forum website.
SYMPOSIUM ON DIGITALISATION
WIFU organises the symposium on ‘Digitalisation in family businesses’ together with PricewaterhouseCoopers AG. The aim of this event is to provide insights into general technical and social dynamics as well as their consequences for the labour market, and ways in which organisational structures of the future will have to adapt. Practical examples of digital transformation of family businesses will be presented alongside the talks. This event is designed exclusively for members of family businesses and business families and their top management.
FURTHER EDUCATION FOR FAMILY ENTREPRENEURS
The ‘Professional Campus’ team at the Witten/Herdecke University regularly organises further training activities for shareholders, successors, members of family businesses and business families, and anybody else interested in family entrepreneurship. WIFU lecturers and speakers offer themed workshops and seminars on specific issues as part of the event.
WIFU LECTURERS/SPEAKERS:
HEIRATSMARKT (MARRIAGE MARKET) FOR I. A. FAMILY BUSINESSES
OPENING THE DOOR TO THE NEXT GENERATION
Family businesses have special needs and expectations regarding their workforces and future managers. That is why the Witten Institute for Family Business (WIFU) collaborates with the Career Service Team at the Witten/Herdecke University to regularly organise one evening each term for their established networking event ‘Marriage Market’, i. a. for family businesses.
MATCH-MAKING FOR PROS
The Marriage Market has more than thirty years of tradition at Witten. Representatives of family businesses can use this exclusive evening to make contact with potential new recruits and get to know committed students who wish to find out about internships, working student positions and new jobs.
This event is limited to 18 corporate attendees, so please register early.
IMPRESSIONS
There will be lots of opportunities to meet people personally between the workshops and talks.
Professor Dr Tom A. Rüsen welcomes attendees to the anniversary congress in 2018.
Congress attendees take a trip through the development of industry using virtual reality.
Nordrhein-Westfalen’s Minister of the Economy, Professor Dr Andreas Pinkwart, has been an advocate of family entrepreneurs since the congress.
An artistic interpretation of the congress.
WIFU Marriage Market
WIFU Marriage Market
The first ever congress for family businesses in 1998.
WIFU experts talking to young successors at the ‘Knowledge Black Market’ in the Successor Academy.
The WIFU team is available at the congress to answer questions and discuss research, teaching and events on family businesses.
The evening programme
Key themes of the collaborative workshop are up for discussion.
At the collaborative workshop, attendees can develop their own ideas and evaluate them using a program.
Frank Schomburg provides an introduction into the way the collaborative workshop works and proceeds.
CONTACT PERSON
Dana Brucklacher, Jennifer Tiedemann and Sandra Becker
Phone: +49 2302 926 528
E-Mail: event@wifu.de
