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SAGE Business Cases Family Business Series

In 2018, SAGE Business Cases launched Family Business, a new teaching case series within SAGE Business Cases. This series launched with 16 cases and teaching notes and will continue to grow. This rich and interdisciplinary series is edited by: 

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

SBC Family Business Editor

Marleen Dieleman, Ph.D., National University of Singapore.

“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.”

SAGE has received great interest since the original call for submissions and our editorial team is working with a number of authors to develop cases that will publish over the next year. Titles from our initial collection:

 
Rebar Group: A Chinese Family Business Turned Criminal, Kuan Cheng Chen, University of Manchester
“It Used to be a Family Company Until I Joined My Husband in It”: Professionalizing a First-Generation Family Business, Mary Barrett and Ken Moores, University of Wollongong
Strategy and the Sibling Partnership: The Tan Group from Indonesia, Marleen Dieleman, National University of Singapore
Taming My Father, Andrea L. Santiago, Asian Institute of Management
Trevor Family Business Compensation Framework: Is It Fair?, Andrea L. Santiago, Asian Institute of Management
Now What? Now Who? A Mexican Small Family Business in Transition, Luis Jimenez-Castillo, Universidad Panamericana
Moore Oil: Exit Options for a Multi-Family, Multi-Generational Small Business, Karen Pellegrin, University of Hawaii at Hilo
Managing Strategic Change in Family Business: The Case of Glopac Chemical, Alfredo De Massis, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
K.N. Kordonis & Co. S.A.: Are We All on the Same Page for Survival?, George S. Vozikis, Chaminade University of Honolulu
Morgan Construction Company: Managing Five Generations of Family Ownership, Chickery Kasouf, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Managing to Sell but Failing to Communicate: The Case of the Family Behind Dow Jones, Peter Jaskiewicz, University of Ottawa
Aurobindo Pharma: Gearing up for the Future, Kavil Ramachandran, Indian School of Business
John Nurminen Family: Ownership Strategy Enabling Business Portfolio Development, Marita Rautiainen, Lappeenranta University of Technology
Consumer Goods Company: A Woman Sailing for Success, Josiane Fahed-Sreih, Lebanese American University
The Business Tycoon Robert Aston: The Rise and Fall of a Family Empire, Josiane Fahed-Sreih, Lebanese American University
Mehta Engineering: An Indian Family Business Coping with Growth Through the Third Generation, Hitesh Shukla, Saurashtra University 


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. 

Editor Bio:

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 note (case= 1,000-5,000 words)
  • A thorough editorial process to develop your ideas and prepare cases for successful publication
  • Copyright in your name and final PDF for ease use in your classroom
  • Payment when your case is published
  • An international audience for your work, supported by the global sales force at SAGE

Have you ever gone searching for a suitable case in family business 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)


For Questions, Sample Cases and Author Guidelines contact SAGE Business Cases editorial Rachel Taliaferro (rachel.taliaferro@sagepub.com) Editor

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