Wise Family Business

Wise Family Business aims to help families in business to identify new and better ways of achieving longevity, sustainability and performance. The book presents ground-breaking new insights and practical examples from a range of growing family businesses in which the owning families are visible and, in most cases, have branded the business with their family name.

This comprehensive and important study explores how family identity has the power to tie together families in business and leverage their values when developing and sharing the owner’s vision with their stakeholder communities. Developing a family business identity is key when building and managing an authentic, recognizable and trusted brand. It argues that family businesses that have successfully translated strong identities into strong brands are not only perceived as attractive employers but also add meaningful value to the business over generations. 

• reputation
• identity
• innovation
• brand management
• entrepreneurship
• visibility
• communication
• values
• corporate responsibility
• corporate social responsibility

• IMD Global Family Business Center, Lausanne, Switzerland

  Joachim Schwass, Anne-Catrin Glemser

Joachim Schwass is Professor Emeritus of Family Business at IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland. He founded the IMD Global Family Business Center and for over 25 years has studied, taught and advised leading families in business around the world. Schwass is the second-generation leader in his own family’s business. His authored works include Wise Growth Strategies in Leading Family Businesses and Wise Wealth.

Anne-Catrin Glemser is Family Business Research and Program Development Manager at IMD, Switzerland. She is responsible for developing new research initiatives and programs in the field of family business and heads the research activities for the IMD-Lombard Odier Global Family Business Award. Glemser has received several awards for her outstanding case writing skills, including the EFMD "Best of the Best" in 2015. Prior to joining IMD, Glemser held key marketing positions with leading consumer goods multinationals.

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