The Family Enterprise Challenge

Understand the challenges of family business

The challenges faced in family-owned firms differ substantially from those in other companies and include leadership and ownership succession, interaction of family and business, the role of owners, and family relationships.  

The Family Enterprise Challenge programme offers a unique environment for you to better understand and address your specific family business issues. You will benefit from the latest thinking and best practices on a wide range of family enterprise topics. The programme is designed so that you can immediately apply the learning to your own situation, and experience a higher level of communication within your family group. Strict confidentiality is maintained throughout the course.

Key Benefits

• Greater understanding of the challenges and dynamics of family businesses
• Better insight into governance structures and processes
• Smoother transitions
• Improve your personal communication skills
• Enhanced dialogue within your family team
• Adoption of fairer decision-making processes
• Development of concrete family action plans

A view from INSEAD on:

• Family Business Success

Featured articles

Entreprendre en famille : savoir gérer les relations parents-enfants
(Les Echos - 27 Jan 2012)
This article reports that family enterprises represent 60% of companies in France and asks INSEAD Professor Christine Blondel about how divergent opinions can be managed in these companies. (In French)  Click here to read the article.


The Family That Goes To School Together...
(The Wall Street Journal - 22 August 2011) 
Family businesses are discovering a new venue where they can work out their problems: the classroom. Professor Randel Carlock was interviewed. Click here to read the article. 

Trouble at family mill? Call in ‘CEO’
(Business Times – 12 Apr 2011)
Randel Carlock, the Berghmans Lhoist Chaired Professor in Entrepreneurial Leadership, explains that family-owned companies need to be run with emotional, as well as professional, leadership. Click here to read the article. 

Campden FB's top 50 family business leaders
(Campden FB - 2 March 2011)
Campden FB has compiled a list of the top 50 family business leaders in the world, with the aid of four senior family experts, including Randel Carlock, the Berghmans Lhoist Chaired Professor of Entrepreneurial Leadership. Click here to read the article. 

Under the guidance of an experienced faculty team, each family reflects on its own situation, works on issues specific to their business, to develop a practicable action plan. Participants work in family teams to apply the course learning, practice effective meetings, and analyse family history. Teams benefit from interaction with different families and mutual coaching fostered during exercises throughout the programme. Key topics covered during the programme include:

• Introduction to the family business system and challenges
• Interpersonal relationships
• Ownership, governance and strategy
• Succession, careers, leadership and agenda

Participants maximise the opportunity to gather programme insights more effectively when two or more members of a family enterprise attend the programme.

Wendel International Centre for Family Enterprise

The fast-growing field of family business is at the forefront of research and teaching at INSEAD. The activity initiated by the Wendel family (active in business since 1704) has received substantial support from several family businesses and individuals in Europe (Tetra Laval, Berghmans/Lhoist, and André and Rosalie Hoffmann). The Centre is dedicated to helping the owners and executives in family-controlled organisations address their specific issues. It conducts research, develops programmes and events. Family businesses can also benefit from tailor-made programmes for their owners and managers. Find out more

Participants are asked to come in teams of at least two members of the same family enterprise. A team with several members will learn more together and be able to implement changes quicker and more efficiently.

Each team ideally comprises three to six members including, as a matter of choice, members from the family as well as from management. The team members represent different viewpoints, insights and issues about the family enterprise. In past programmes, typical participant teams have included:

• Founder, successor, and non-family CEO
• Family members working in the business
• Board members of the family holding company
• Members of the family council with the non-family chair of the business board
• Family shareholders and their children

"Excellent team coordination. Clarity and consistency in the development of the subject matter. Excellent practical application of subject learnt. Excellent idea to share practical exercise of Family Meetings."

Latin America family business owner

"A huge thank you from our family for organising such an excellent course. It has given us new ideas, helped re-establish core values and provided us with the tools to re-invent and invigorate our family. All this in four days, quite an achievement!"

Africa family business owner

"Thank you very much for the wonderful program. It was very beneficial for my family and we hope to put a lot of things into practice shortly. We are going to start working on the family constitution."

Middle East family executive 

"The FAME programme you taught us had a very positive impact on the Family! We have our regular Family Meetings. We already have discussed and changed many taboo subjects such as the ‘girls in the company’ issue. I am proud to announce that my sister is now officially a shareholder of the Family Business."

Europe family executive

Great minds don’t think alike

INSEAD’s professors represent many cultures, disciplines, and perspectives. Led by acknowledged world experts in their own particular fields, this programme faculty remain intimately close to business and most are engaged in cross-disciplinary research.*

Christine Blondel Programme Director Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise She co-directs the Family Enterprise Challenge, INSEAD four-day educational programme for family businesses. She advises several business families, serves on boards of traded family-influenced companies and regularly speaks in conferences. Read more...

Randel Carlock Programme Director Senior Affiliate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise The Berghmans Lhoist Chaired Professor in Entrepreneurial Leadership Dr. Randel S. Carlock researches and teaches about entrepreneurship and family business based on his experience as a CEO, management professor, consultant and psychotherapist. He is the first Berghmans Lhoist Chaired Professor in Entrepreneurial Leadership and the founding Director of the Wendel International Centre for Family Enterprise at INSEAD (Europe, Asia and Abu Dhabi). Read more...

*programme faculty may change

Dates & Fees

Please click here for more information about the terms and conditions.

For full details on how to apply, accommodation, and cancellation conditions please visit the Practical Information page

* Fee subject to change. For programmes delivered in France, VAT (19.6%) to be added for companies based in France, or for European companies where no VAT number is supplied. For programmes delivered in Singapore, GST (7%) to be added for Singapore-registered companies.

Please note that tuition fees are €6,700 for the 2nd member of the family and €5,700 for each additional participant.