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SAGE Business Cases: Family Business Series

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In 2018, SAGE Business Cases launched Family Business, a new teaching case series within SAGE Business Cases. 

“Family businesses are an important source of dynamism in most economies, usually with an entrepreneurial attitude and a passion for the business,” says Dr. Dieleman. “But family firms also face unique challenges related to the combination of family and business, including succession, professionalization and legacy-building across generations. This case series brings out these challenges and successes with examples from all continents, and provides a rich source of teaching material for educators.”

The cases in this series span countries and cultures and highlight the varied challenges faced by family businesses across a range of different contexts. These cases will provide students and faculty with up-to-the-minute impactful cases that truly work to prepare tomorrow’s business leaders. 

View Family Business Cases


The Family Business series is edited by: 

SBC Family Business Editor Image

  • Marleen Dieleman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Strategy and Family Business at NUS Business School at the National University of Singapore

    • Dr. Dieleman’s research focuses on the strategy and governance of Asian family business groups. She has published widely, including academic articles, books, chapters, and cases. Her work has often been quoted in international media, such as Financial Times, and she is a frequent keynote speaker and workshop leader. 

    Dieleman teaches strategy and family business in BBA, MBA, and executive education programs. Marleen won the Outstanding Educator Award and the NUS Annual Teaching Excellence Award three times in a row and was placed on the NUS honor roll for sustained teaching excellence for 2017-2022. 

    Dr. Dieleman enjoys interacting with business owners and corporate boards, and has a particular interest in maritime and commodity-related sectors. She worked closely with Asian family firms as a consultant and board member.


    Call for Papers

    Partner with SAGE to develop your FAMILY BUSINESS teaching case. For further details on submissions,

    Click here

    SAGE Publishing continues to grow its global case collection, SAGE Business Cases, in particular in key areas we care deeply about, such as the rich and interdisciplinary topic of family-run enterprise.

    SAGE is pleased to offer case authors:

    • Double-blind peer review of your case and teaching notes
    • A thorough editorial process, working to develop your ideas and prepare cases for successful publication
    • Freedom to include your students in the case research and writing process
    • Copyright in your name and final PDF for ease of use in your classroom
    • $500 when your case is published
    • An international audience for your work


    Have you ever gone searching for a suitable case in family business and could not find one? Do you have an idea or a rough case draft? Have you written a family business-related case you currently used in your classroom? Bring it to SAGE and we’ll work with you to develop your idea. We also encourage students to work alongside you as case writing enables students to apply theory to real-world situations, and they benefit from co- publication credits.

    Suggested topics include:

    • Innovation in family businesses
    • Internationalization of family businesses
    • Family business exit
    • Family firm constitutions
    • Family trusts, foundations, and family offices
    • Strategic entrepreneurship in family businesses
    • Socioemotional wealth in family firms
    • Succession and professionalization
    • Outside CEOs in family businesses
    • Minority shareholder rights in family firms
    • Values, culture and identity in family business
    • Corporate Social Responsibility
    • Alliances and Joint Ventures
    • Transformation of the family business
    • Wealth management in business families
    • Conflict in business families

    The topics above are merely an illustration. We encourage authors to consider issues outside of succession in family firms and to explore topics related to family business from various industries, geographical areas and diverse business subdisciplines. We are also welcoming teaching cases that explore not only successful enterprises, but also those that provide opportunities to learn from failures.

    DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: July 19, 2019 (for January 2020 publication)

    • We look for cases between 1,000 and 5,000 words.
    • Please include discussion questions and teaching notes.
    • Guidelines and templates may be found here
    • Manuscripts are accepted through our ScholarOne portal
    • Authors receive decisions within 6-8 weeks of submission.

    For questions and sample cases, contact: Rachel Taliaferro, Editor, rachel.taliaferro@sagepub.com

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