Resilience of 100-Year Family Enterprises: How Opportunistic Innovation, Business Discipline, and a Culture of Stewardship Guide the Journey Across Generations

Successful family enterprises are incredible engines for generating wealth and expressing the owning family’s values about business and the community. These values may be expressed through the quality of their goods and services, relationships with employees, business and community, and philanthropy. But only a small fraction of the families that create businesses are able to sustain them for more than a single generation. The few surviving enterprises are huge and have a powerful impact on the community, global commerce, and the environment. They also have a strong influence on family members and all those touched by the family’s various enterprises. This paper describes the journey of long-term resilient families over three to more than six generations. These families pursue business opportunities together while passing their legacy values, culture and resources to each new generation. While few family enterprises reach this milestone, those that do amass impressive resources.