Familienstrategie & Management der Unternehmerfamilie

In the lecture „Family Strategy & Management of the Entrepreneurial Family“ (2022), Prof Dr Tom A. Rüsen explains why entrepreneurial families need their own structures in order to remain capable of making decisions, connected and professionally operational in the long term. The starting point is the special logic of family businesses: owners connected by family ties bear joint responsibility for a business that is to be continued across generations.

The presentation shows that entrepreneurial families must constantly balance different systemic logics. While businesses operate on a basis of decision-making, performance and function, families follow patterns that are more focused on individuals, emotions and bonds. This creates paradoxical demands on family members, who must simultaneously act as relatives, shareholders and entrepreneurs.

The focus is therefore on how family governance, family strategy and family management can be structured. The paper describes key instruments such as family constitutions, family bodies, shareholder competence programmes, conflict resolution mechanisms and regular reflection processes. The presentation thus offers sound guidance for business-owning families who wish to systematically strengthen their cohesion, decision-making ability and future security.