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Topics of Family Business Governance

Insights on Structures, Strategies, and Executives

  • Discusses the role of the board in family businesses
  • Provides unique arguments and solutions for issues of family businesses
  • Presents insights into recession management as part of governance
  • Covers all strategic and leadership matters relevant in a governance context

Part of the book series: Management for Professionals (MANAGPROF)

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Table of contents (31 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
  2. The Design of Boards for Comprehensive Tasks and Efficient Processes

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. Introduction

      • Hermut Kormann, Birgit Suberg
      Pages 3-4
    3. Exploring the Topics of Governance

      • Hermut Kormann, Birgit Suberg
      Pages 5-7
    4. Modules and Tasks of Governance

      • Hermut Kormann, Birgit Suberg
      Pages 9-14
    5. One-Tier and Two-Tier Boards

      • Hermut Kormann, Birgit Suberg
      Pages 15-17
    6. Governance for the Lone Founder

      • Hermut Kormann, Birgit Suberg
      Pages 23-25
    7. Monitoring: We Need Meaningful Data

      • Hermut Kormann, Birgit Suberg
      Pages 31-35
    8. The Difficult Task of Advising

      • Hermut Kormann, Birgit Suberg
      Pages 37-43
    9. To Create a Sense of Urgency

      • Hermut Kormann, Birgit Suberg
      Pages 45-49
    10. The Board’s Key Role During a Crisis: Such as COVID-19

      • Joseph H. Astrachan, Andrew Keyt, Hermut Kormann, Claudia Binz Astrachan
      Pages 51-56
  3. The Board’s Discussions on Topics of Family Enterprises’ Strategies

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 57-57
    2. Profits as the Basis of Strategy

      • Hermut Kormann
      Pages 67-70
    3. Investments Strategy for Stability and Development

      • Hermut Kormann, Birgit Suberg
      Pages 71-74
    4. Innovation Strategy for Renewal and Growth

      • Hermut Kormann, Birgit Suberg
      Pages 75-78
    5. Patterns of Family Enterprise’s Growth

      • Laura K. C. Seibold
      Pages 79-86
    6. Avoiding Unacceptable Risks

      • Hermut Kormann
      Pages 87-90

About this book

This book focuses on the role of the board in family businesses and specifically on processes and topics of strategic importance. It comprises all the relevant topics which need to be addressed on a regular basis such as strategy development, financial management, and leadership. The pros and cons of each issue are elaborated. This is one of the few books which addresses family businesses from governance systems to the role of executives. The diverse set of examples carefully collected by the authors and an in-depth discussion on the topics provide readers with valuable insights to broaden and enrich the effectiveness of governance.


Editors and Affiliations

  • Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen, Germany

    Hermut Kormann

  • Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Shanghai, China

    Birgit Suberg

About the editors

Hermut Kormann served as CFO (1989-99) and CEO (2000-08) of Voith, a 150-year-old German family enterprise. Prior to Voith, he held positions at Brown, Boveri & Cie. (currently called ABB) and Booz & Co., management consultants. Dr. Kormann has served on various supervisory boards of family enterprises. He advises owning families on issues of owner strategy. Dr. Kormann is a Visiting Professor at Leipzig University (Germany) and Professor at Zeppelin University (Germany) where he lectures on leadership, strategy, and governance in family-owned businesses. 

Birgit Suberg is an Associate Professor of Practice at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou (China). She is also the Managing Director of a Shanghai-based consulting company. After starting out in strategic consulting and project management in Germany, she has worked in China in several leading positions for multinational and Chinese family and founder-controlled firms. 

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Topics of Family Business Governance

  • Book Subtitle: Insights on Structures, Strategies, and Executives

  • Editors: Hermut Kormann, Birgit Suberg

  • Series Title: Management for Professionals

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58019-3

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Business and Management, Business and Management (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-58018-6Published: 19 November 2020

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-58021-6Published: 19 November 2021

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-58019-3Published: 18 November 2020

  • Series ISSN: 2192-8096

  • Series E-ISSN: 2192-810X

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIII, 157

  • Number of Illustrations: 9 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Management, Entrepreneurship, Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access