The new book from the ICHEC Families in Business Chair, of which Banque de Luxembourg is a founder member, highlights the importance of spouses (men and women alike), their visible and invisible roles, and their interactions with everyone connected to "families in business".

Very few business leaders, especially in family businesses, are unaware of their spouse’s important roles in their career and leadership, both in terms of the family and the business, whether or not the spouse has a formal position in the company. Yet studies of family businesses have long ignored the leader’s spouse, focusing more on the leader's relationship with the Chief Executive and the latter’s point of view.  Although seemingly backstage in most generational transitions, successful or otherwise, everyone on the ground knows and recognises that spouses are the linchpin in the processes of succession and continuity. They often pay a key role in successful generational transitions, especially when there are tensions and problems to be resolved.

The first major study devoted to the spouses of family business leaders

This book is the fruit of the views of 52 spouses of family business leaders, 168 CEOs, 169 children of business leaders, and the members of a multi-disciplinary research committee, made up of management consultants and specialists in governance, communication, corporate culture, psychology and anthropology.

All these vignettes of the spouse at the intersection of the family, the business, the assets and succession, have been brought together in a three-year study conducted by Valérie Denis, Director of Studies of the Families in Business Chair at the ICHEC Brussels Management School. Sitting on the Chair’s Multi-disciplinary and Collaborative Committee, Philippe Depoorter, Member of the Management Committee of Banque de Luxembourg, actively contributed to this work.

Support for families in business at Banque de Luxembourg

Banque de Luxembourg supports families in business in growing, managing and passing on their family and business wealth. In the course of our work, we have developed specific expertise in preparing for the handover stages of family businesses and educating the ‘Next Gen’.  We always look at the specific dynamics at play in family businesses because belonging to a family in business means living in an environment where the life of the family and that of the business are intricately interwoven. This raises particular questions, especially concerning everyone’s individual role. Having put the spotlight on the Next Gen in a previous study conducted by the ICHEC Families in Business Chair, in 2015, the Bank wanted to know more about – and give voice to – the views of the spouses of family business leaders, and thereby understand more about their role in the success of the businesses they provide support to every day.

 Learn more about our services to Family

Find out more about the study on the role of spouses

The book can be ordered on the website for EUR 25 including tax + postage and packaging

www.zoomssurlesconjoints.be

Contact

Laura Giallombardo
Next Gen Adviser
laura.giallombardo@bdl.lu
Tel: (+352) 499 24 3974