Family Business and The Enduring Enterprise

Catalog description

In the modern corporation, everything is rented: owners, capital, C-suite, labor, assets, even the legal system. In such a world, it appears pointless to build an institution - a social arrangement that is stable and long-lived, created and maintained to serve a shared purpose that cannot be achieved by individuals acting alone. Indeed, in a world transfixed by the allure of new technology, institutions are viewed as obstacles that must be routed around. Or disrupted. Or destroyed. This course makes a different set of claims: A) institutions are essential to a well-functioning society, B) in the commercial realm, enduring enterprises are institutions, and C) families are the most prominent (but not the only) builders and owners of enduring enterprises. The course will explore why and how to build and maintain a commercial institution, whether that company is a family firm (the primary form of enduring enterprise), startup, growth business, professional services partnership, or legacy corporation. It is aught by Leo Linbeck III, Lecturer since 2005 at the GSB and President and CEO of Aquinas Companies, LLC. The course is intended for three main audiences: (1) Students from a family firm who may or may not want to work at that firm. (2) Students who are interested in building or leading or buying an enduring non-family firm. (3) Students who want to explore a view of business that is markedly different from, far more common than, and arguably more sustainable than the "Silicon Valley model." The course uses a combination of case studies, queries, guest speakers, lectures, readings, and movies. Students will also be assigned to a "tutorial" group led by a business leader (likely an MBA alum) who will work closely with their group in a manner that aspires to replicate the Oxbridge model of education. This course is not appropriate for students who want to become masters…