What are we up to?

Between working with client families, teaching, researching, and speaking, there’s always something going on at Generation6.

  • Our academic, as well as our practitioner-oriented research, frequently gets published in scholarly outlets and featured in the popular press >>

  • Find out what we are doing research-wise at the moment - and reach out if you want to participate as a practice partner >>

  • Participate in the virtual and in-person events that members of Generation6 speak at >>

  • Not to brag, but to share the joy we feel when we get rewarded for doing what we love >>

Publications

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  • Chirico, F., Hoskisson, R., Pathak, S., & Baù, M. (2024). Calm in the Storm: Job Security and Postmerger Performance in Family versus Non-Family Firms. Academy of Management Journal.

    Ehlers, A., Rumble, R., Binz Astrachan, C., & Baù, M. (2024). Fulfillment or status: Job seekers’ reward expectations towards family and non-family employers. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 15(4), 100634.

    Michiels, A., & Binz Astrachan, C. (2024). Money education in the business family: a perspective article. Journal of Family Business Management (forthcoming)

    Astrachan, C. B. (2024). Family Governance. In Elgar Encyclopedia of Family Business (pp. 191-195). Edward Elgar Publishing.

    Jansen, K., Michiels, A., Voordeckers, W., & Steijvers, T. (2023). Financing decisions in private family firms: a family firm pecking order. Small Business Economics, 61(2), 495-515.

    Diéguez-Soto, J., Martínez-Romero, M. J., Corten, M., & Michiels, A. (2022). The impact of the CEO's financial literacy on family SMEs' growth: the moderating role of generational stage. Baltic Journal of Management, 17(1), 89-106.

    Michiels, A., Botero, I., & Kidwell, R. (2022). Toward a Family Science Perspective on Executive Compensation in Family Firms: A Review and Research Agenda. Family Business Review 35(1), 45-67.

    Welsh, D. H., Botero, I. C., Kaciak, E., & Kopaničová, J. (2021). Family emotional support in the transformation of women entrepreneurs. Journal of Business Research, 137, 444-451.

    Pieper, T. M., Kellermanns, F. W., & Astrachan, J. H. (2021). Update 2021: Family Businesses’ Contribution to the US Economy. Family Enterprise USA (704).

    Botero, I. C., Martínez, A. B., Sanguino, G., & Binhote, J. (2021). The family’s effect on knowledge sharing in family firms. Journal of Knowledge Management.

    Astrachan, J. H., & Pieper, T. M. (2021). Developing responsible owners in family business. In Topics of Family Business Governance (pp. 119-126). Springer, Cham.

    Botero, I., Arzaga, F. S., & Bullock, B. (2021). Understanding Governance Mechanisms in Small and Medium Family Firms in Latin America. Multidisciplinary Business Review, 14(2), 107-120.

    Binz Astrachan, C., Astrachan, J. H., Kotlar, J., & Michiels, A. (2021). Addressing the theory-practice divide in family business research: The case of shareholder agreements. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 12(1), 100395.

    Binhote, J., Botero, I. C., Wittmeyer, C., & Astrachan, J. H. (2021). Developing Committed Next Generation Members in Family Firms: The Role of Socialization Processes. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2021, No. 1, p. 15099). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.

    Botero, I. C., & Litchfield-Moore, S. R. (2021). Customer perceptions about family firms and their effects on customer behaviors. Journal of Small Business Strategy, 31(2), 19-35.

    Hair, J. F., Binz Astrachan, C., Moisescu, O. I., Radomir, L., Sarstedt, M., Vaithilingam, S., & Ringle, C. M. (2020). Executing and interpreting applications of PLS-SEM: Updates for family business researchers. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 100392.

    Pieper, T. M., Williams Jr, R. I., Manley, S. C., & Matthews, L. M. (2020). What time may tell: An exploratory study of the relationship between religiosity, temporal orientation, and goals in family business. Journal of business ethics, 163(4), 759-773.

    Astrachan, J. H., Binz Astrachan, C., Campopiano, G., & Baù, M. (2020). Values, spirituality and religion: Family business and the roots of sustainable ethical behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 163(4), 637-645.

    Elsbach, K. D., & Pieper, T. M. (2019). How psychological needs motivate family firm identifications and identifiers: A framework and future research agenda. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 10(3), 100289.

    Williams, R. I., Pieper, T. M., Kellermanns, F. W., & Astrachan, J. H. (2019). Applying an organizational effectiveness approach to measure family business performance. Journal of Family Business Management, 9(3), 349-374.

    Williams, R. I., Pieper, T. M., Kellermanns, F. W., & Astrachan, J. H. (2019). Family business goal formation: A literature review and discussion of alternative algorithms. Management Review Quarterly, 69(3), 329-349.

  • Astrachan, J.H., Botero, I.C., & Wittmeyer, C.B. (2024). Making outside work experience worthwhile. Family Business Magazine.

    Astrachan, J.H., Botero, I.C., & Wittmeyer, C.B. (2024). Do family business NextGens need outside work experience? Family Business Magazine. 

    Astrachan, J.H., Botero, I.C., & Wittemeyer, C.B. (2024). Nurturing an engaged next generation through onboarding. Family Business Magazine.

    Binz Astrachan, C., & Michiels, A. (2024, May 1). Attitudes towards money can cloud family business decisions. FamilyBusiness.org.

    Binz Astrachan, C., & Michiels, A. (2024, January 3). Punishment, reward, control: how money shows up in the business family. FamilyBusiness.org.

    Binz Astrachan, C., Astrachan, J., & Pieper, T. (2023, October 31). Do you treat in-laws like the family business outlaws ?. FamilyBusiness.org.

    Botero, I.C.,Heider, A. K., & Rüsen, T. (2024). Enhancing Next Generation Preparation in Family Firms: Insights from German Family Firms and Business Families. WIFU (Witten Institute for Family Business) Foundation.

    Michiels, A. & Binz Astrachan, C. (2023). IT’S (NOT AT) ALL ABOUT THE MONEY: The Many Misunderstood and Underexplored Manifestations of Money in the Business Family | Read more

    Binz Astrachan, C. (2022, April 12).Developing competent owners and stewards for a lasting family business. FamilyBusiness.org.

    Astrachan, J., Botero, I., Wittmeyer, C., & Astrachan, C. (2022). Don't Send Your Kids to Work Outside the Family Business Just Yet! | Read more

    Binz Astrachan, C., Astrachan, J.H., & Kormann, H. (2021). Four things that the best family business boards do well | Read more

    Binz Astrachan, C. & Botero, I. (2021). Business Family Governance 2.0: Leveraging Business Family Governance for Family Continuity. A Research Report from the IFB Research Foundation | Read more

    Binz Astrachan, C., Waldkirch, M., Michiels, A., Pieper, T. M., & Bernhard, F. (2020). Professionalizing the business family: The five pillars of competent, committed, and sustainable ownership. a research report sponsored by the FFI 2086 society | Read more

    Astrachan, C. (2022). Developing Competent Owners and Stewards for a Lasting Family Business | Read more

    Pieper, T. M. (2021). Can my siblings/cousins and I assess in the family whether we could constructively work together in the business one day? In Peter Jaskiewicz and Sabine B. Rau (Eds.): Enabling next generation legacies: 35 questions that next generation members in enterprising families ask. Pathway Books, pp. 60-63.

Current Research

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  • Intentional Investing: Aligning Investment Policies with Family Values and Objectives: This research focuses on family investment policies, a popular governance mechanisms that has gone virtually unstudied. We explore how families can align investment policies with their shared values, diverse goals,and long-term aspirations, while balancing financial and non-financial goals and mitigating conflicts that arise from within-family heterogeneity.

    Project members: Claudia Binz Astrachan, Anneleen Michiels, Chris Graves, and Massimo Baù

  • Do We Practice What We Preach? Execution Gaps in Family Governance: In this research project, we investigate how discrepancies between what has been codified and agreed upon in family governance, and actual observable behaviors can impact long-term family and business functioning and success, to provide actionable recommendations for business families and their advisors.

    Project members: Claudia Binz Astrachan and Raphaëlle Mattart

  • Employee Interfirm Mobility and Compensation Across Family and Non Family firms: This study examines how prior experience in family firms affects employees’ compensation when switching jobs. We find that employees leaving family firms receive higher compensation if they join another family firm but face lower pay when transitioning to non-family firms. These findings highlight family firm experience as a unique labor market friction, shaping employee mobility and wage dynamics.

    Project Lead: Massimo Baù

  • Institutional Advantage, Family Firms, and Acquisitions: This study applies institutional theory to examine how family firms’ unique stakeholder relationships create strategic advantages. We argue that family firms benefit from institutional distinctiveness in their home markets, shaping their acquisition strategies. Specifically, family firms leverage these advantages to pursue acquisitions with a stronger regional and strategic fit. The findings offer insights into how location-based economic benefits influence acquisition decisions.

    Project Lead: Massimo Baù

  • Offspring’s Entrepreneurship Experience and Intrafamily Succession: This study examines how launching an independent venture influences the likelihood of business owners’ children returning to take over the family firm. Drawing on human capital and person-environment fit theories, we argue that entrepreneurship experience can enhance succession potential, but its impact depends on the entrepreneurial nature of both the offspring’s venture and the family business. 

    Project Lead: Massimo Baù

  • Unraveling Differences in Family Firms for Biological vs. Stepchildren: Family firms are often associated with preferential treatment, but how does this play out when biological children and stepchildren work in the business? As family structures evolve through remarriage and blended families, the boundaries of kinship blur, raising questions about how family relationships shape employment and compensation decisions. This study delves into the complexities of family dynamics in business, exploring how deep-seated bonds, upbringing, and implicit succession planning influence the way family members are valued within the firm.

    Project Lead: Massimo Baù

  • Family-Controlled Enterprise Foundations: This study explores how foundation ownership in family firms influences corporate governance. Unlike traditional family ownership, foundation-owned firms have a perpetual principal—the foundation’s purpose—defined by a legal charter. Using agency theory, we analyze conflicts between foundations, family members, and non-family shareholders. The study aims to understand how family firms navigate foundation ownership to balance legacy, control, and financial sustainability.

    Project Lead: Massimo Baù

  • Charitable and Family Enterprise Foundations as Firm Owners: This study examines how charitable and family enterprise foundations shape acquisition strategies. Firms with charitable foundations as owners pursue more acquisitions, targeting geographically and culturally distant firms, yet remain industry-focused due to the founder’s imprinting effect. The findings offer insights into governance and strategic decision-making in foundation-owned firms.

    Project Lead: Massimo Baù

  • Shared Family Legacy and Family Philanthropy: A relevant part of achieving continuity for business families is being able to transfer the family legacy across generations. Taking a qualitative view, this study explores how business families utilize philanthropic actions in the transfer of family legacy and how this process is meaningful to them. We find that philanthropy enables business families to connect with one another and have a space to develop a shared understanding of their family legacy. This shared legacy is co-constructed between members of different generations, which helps to make it relevant to each generation and helps to promote legacy continuity.

    Project members: Rosane Dal Magro, Rosane, Isabel Botero & Luis Felipe Cisneros Martinez

  • Family offices and their effects on the next generation’s entrepreneurial intent: Family offices are becoming a key organization in the family-related organizational ecosystems. These organizations exist to help preserve, administer, and transform the wealth of the family by engaging in investment, family and administrative related activities. Through the enactment activities they create a dependence of the next generation particularly through concierge services. In this study we explore the conditions under which this dependence of the next generation can impact their entrepreneurial intent. 

    Project members: Isabel Botero, Luis Felipe Cisneros Martinez & Tom Fediuk

  • Family Constitutions: Family constitutions are one of the most used family governance practices. This document helps business families articulate their strategy to guide the relationships between family, ownership, and business roles. In this study we explore the family conditions that facilitate the development of the constitution, and the process that families go through while deciding whether or not a family constitution can help them.

    Project members: Isabel Botero, S. Prigge, K. Mengers

Events

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  • 10/1-3 CEFEO, led by Massimo Baù, hosts the annual EIASM conference

    6/10-13 Family business scholars around the world gather at the annual IFERA conference, the largest event for family business academics.

    5/22 Torsten Pieper and Joe Astrachan speak at the FBN Mardi Gras Experience

    4/10 - 4/11/2025 | Claudia Binz Astrachan & Joe Astrachan | In-Person | Universidad Francisco Marroquín Minor in Family Business Program | Read more

    3/13/25 | Claudia Binz Astrachan | In-Person | Forum für Familienunternehmen | Read more

  • 4/4 - 4/5/2024 | Claudia Binz Astrachan & Joe Astrachan | In-Person | Universidad Francisco Marroquín Minor in Family Business Program | Read more

    4/25/24 | Claudia Binz Astrachan | In-Person | Forum für Familienunternehmen | Read more

    5/18/24 | Claudia Binz Astrachan | Virtual | ICESI | High-Performance Board Program | Read more

    12/7/2023 | Claudia Binz Astrachan | In-Person | Institute for Family Governance Annual Miami Conference

    11/13/2023 | Jesús Casado | In-Person | Session for EU SME Assembly: How to Scale Up: From SME to Mid Cap

    9/28 - 9/29/2023 | Veronica Maldonado | In-Person | Universidad Francisco Marroquín Minor in Family Business Program

    7/20 - 7/21/2023 | Claudia Binz Astrachan & Joe Astrachan | In-Person | Universidad Francisco Marroquín Minor in Family Business Program

    6/22/2023 | Jesús Casado | In-Person | NGFB Symposium

    6/8/2023 | Joe Astrachan & Torsten Pieper | Virtual | IFERA Summer School

    6/8 - 6/9/2023 | Jesús Casado & Santiago Perry | In-Person | Universidad Francisco Marroquín Minor in Family Business Program

    5/25 - 5/26/2023 | Andrew Keyt | In-Person | Universidad Francisco Marroquín Minor in Family Business Program

    5/6/2023 | Jesús Casado | In-Person | European Challenges for Family Businesses

    5/5/2023 | Jesús Casado | In-Person | FBN Sweden: Wealth Inequality

    5/3/2023 | Claudia Binz Astrachan | Virtual | Webinar for Family Business Norway – Business Family Governance 2.0

    3/2/2023 | Jesús Casado | In-Person | Catalan Association of Family Business

    2/28/2023 | Jesús Casado | In-Person | SME Intergroup and European Parliament Breakfast Date

    2/23/2023 | Andrew Keyt | Private event for Highview capital - Beyond financial success: Building the foundation for a connected and cohesive family across generations

    2/23 - 2/24/2023 | Claudia Binz Astrachan & Joe Astrachan | In-Person | Universidad Francisco Marroquín Minor in Family Business Program

    1/27/2022 | Claudia Binz Astrachan | Virtual | WVIB Schwarzwald: Chefsache Familienzusammenhalt

    1/10/2023 | Claudia Binz Astrachan & Joe Astrachan | Virtual | Prairie Family Business Association Board Bootcamp

Recognition

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  • 2024 | Anneleen Michiels, Claudia Binz Astrachan, Joseph Astrachan, and Torsten Pieper receive four 2023/2024 Schulze Foundation Publication Awards for their articles published on familybusiness.org

    2023 | Massimo Baù and his coauthors receive the Best Family Entrepreneurship Paper award at the Annual Conference of the International Family Enterprise Research Academy (IFERA) | “Intra-Family Successor Selection: The Signalling Value Of Entrepreneurship”

    2023 | Claudia Binz Astrachan receives three 2022 Schulze Foundation Publication Awards for her articles on ownership competence development and best practices in the hybrid workplace. Find all articles on familybusiness.org

    2023 | Massimo Baù and his coauthors are nominated for the Best Paper Award at the Annual Conference of the International Family Enterprise Research Academy (IFERA) | “Nonfinancial Reporting in Family Firms: A Systematic Review and Agenda for Future Research”

    2023 | Claudia Astrachan, Raphaelle Mattart, and Fabrice Pirnay receive the award for Best Contribution to Practice at the Annual Conference of the International Family Enterprise Research Academy (IFERA) | “Constitutions as Expressions of Family Heterogeneity: Disentangling Motivations and Process.”

    2022 | Joe Astrachan receives a 2021 Schulze Foundation Publication Awards for his article titled ‘Family businesses must plan for the unthinkable’. Find the article on familybusiness.org

    2022 | Claudia Astrachan and Isabel Botero receive the award for Best Contribution to Practice at the Annual Conference of the International Family Enterprise Research Academy (IFERA) | “Governing the Business Family, A Matter Of Fit”

    2021 | Isabel Botero and Joe Astrachan, together with Juliana Binhote and Carol Wittmeyer, receive the award for Best Contribution to Practice at the Annual Conference of the International Family Enterprise Research Academy (IFERA) | “Does Working Outside the Firm Make Next Generation Members More Successful Inside their Family Firm?”

    2021 | Massimo Baù and his coauthors receive the Best Empirical Paper award at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM-ENT Division) | “Slack and Performance in Family-Owned SMEs: An Agency Theory Perspective”

    2021 | Massimo Baù and his coauthors receive the Best Paper Award at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Management Association (SMA) – Entrepreneurship Track | “Firm Financial Distress after Owner-Manager Sudden Death”

    2021 | Massimo Baù and his coauthors are nominated for the Best Paper Contribution to Practice award at the Annual Conference of the International Family Enterprise Research Academy (IFERA) | “The Role of Slack Resources and Family Ownership”

    2021 | Claudia Binz Astrachan, Joe Astrachan, and Andrew Keyt together receive five 2020 Schulze Foundation Publication Awards for their articles on best practices in the family business boardroom, family dynamics, and COVID resilience. Find all articles on familybusiness.org

    2020 | Isabel Botero, together with Neus Feliu, receives the award for Best Contribution to Practice at the Annual Conference of the International Family Enterprise Research Academy (IFERA) | “Citizenship Behaviors in Family Enterprises: Understanding its Nature and Dimensionality”

    2019 | Joe Astrachan receives the Lifetime Influence and Impact Award from the Family Enterprise Research Conference (FERC), University of Vermont.

    2019 | Claudia Binz Astrachan receives a 2018 Schulze Foundation Publication Awards for her article titled “Successful successions are never smooth”, which has generated over 41,000 hits since its publication

    2019 | Claudia Binz Astrachan and Joe Astrachan, together with Josip Kotlar and Anneleen Michiels, receive the award for Best Contribution to Practice from the Family Enterprise Research Conference (FERC), University of Vermont | “Family Business Shareholder Liquidity Agreements: A Conceptual Exploration of Antecedents, Strategies, and Consequences”

    2019 | Isabel Botero receives the Hand Award for Research, Creative, and Professional Activity, the highest research award given at Stetson University

    2019 | Isabel Botero receives the Outstanding Researcher Award from the School of Business Administration at Stetson University

    2018 | Andrew Keyt receives the Interdisciplinary Award from the Family Firm Institute

    2018 | Claudia Binz Astrachan and Joe Astrachan, together with Josip Kotlar, receive the award for Best Paper on Conference Theme at the Annual Conference of the International Family Enterprise Research Academy (IFERA) | “Family Firm Disrupters: Exploring the Relationships between Family Cohesion, Family Disruptive Capacity, and Company Disruptive Capacity”

    2018 | Greg McCann receives the Interdisciplinary Award from the Family Firm Institute

    2018 | Massimo Baù and his coauthors receive the Best Conference Paper award at the Annual Conference of the International Family Enterprise Research Academy (IFERA) | “Risk-Taking and Financial Distress in Family-Controlled Firms”

    2018 | Isabel Botero, together with Fernando Sandoval, receives the Adalberto Viesca Sada Family Business in Latin America Award at the Universidad de Monterrey, Mexico

    2017 | Torsten Pieper and Joe Astrachan receive the Business Engagement Award from Kennesaw State University – Coles College of Business for the “EY-KSU Global Family Business Survey”

    2017 | Isabel Botero receives the FOBI (Family-Owned Business Institute) Research Scholar Award from Grand Valley State University

    2009 | Joe Astrachan receives the International Award from the Family Firm Institute

    2001 | Joe Astrachan receives the McGregor Award from the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science (a publication of the NTL Institute) for one of the top eleven papers published between 1990 and 1999

    2000 | Joe Astrachan receives the Richard Beckhard Award from the Family Firm Institute

    1998 | Joe Astrachan receives an award for Lifetime Achievement in Research from the International Family Business Program Association (now USASBE)

  • 2023 | Anneleen Michiels and Claudia Binz Astrachan are selected by a private client to write a commissioned research report on wealth in the family business | Read the report here

    2022 | Massimo Baù is awarded the Fellow designation by the Family Firm Institute (FFI)2020 | Isabel Botero and Claudia Binz Astrachan are selected by the Institute for Family Business UK Research Foundation to write a commissioned research report on business family governance | Read the report here

    2020 | Torsten Pieper and Claudia Binz Astrachan, together with Matthias Waldkirch, Anneleen Michiels, and Fabian Bernhard, are the first recipients of the Society 2086 research grant for a research report on business family professionalization | Read the report here

    2018 | Isabel Botero becomes a Fellow at the Family Firm Institute