Bringing Academic Precision to Questions of Family Enterprise
At the Koch Center, our footprint within one of the world’s preeminent research business universities provides us with an ability to speak to family enterprise issues from a robust research foundation. This research foundation is a crucial part of maintaining the objectivity required to add value to this landscape. At the same time, we understand the importance of translating these insights into actionable frameworks for practitioners in the field.
While the research produced alongside the Koch Center is limited only to the imagination of our partners, the center does have three key initiatives. These areas of focus guide Drs. Bart Hamilton and Peter Boumgarden in identifying data sources for engaging with our scholars in their work.
Performance and Innovation of the Family Organization
Realizing that family enterprise is not inherently high performing but holds power for performance resulting from an extended horizon focus, this pillar focuses on ownership, governance and organizational catalysts of effective family firm performance, especially in transitions across generations.
Investment and Philanthropy of the Family Office
Born from the recent acceleration of the family office footprint, this research area focuses on understanding the evolving philanthropic and investment behaviors of family offices and foundations, with corresponding attention paid to the performance and impact of such funds.
Entrepreneurship and Family in the BIPOC Business
Given the unfortunately limited number of multigenerational Black-owned businesses, this research explores the generative conditions of multigenerational BIPOC entrepreneurship and family enterprise.
As research director and director of the center, respectively, Drs. Hamilton and Boumgarden participate in and lead the team’s efforts to produce cutting-edge research and translate this work into actionable frameworks for practice. With scholars based around the globe, the center’s team of faculty affiliates brings expertise to bear on these questions from fields as diverse as strategy, social psychology, economics, law and finance.
Team of Faculty Affiliates
Director Involvement
Distinguished Faculty Fellows
Faculty Affiliates
Center Data on Family Business
As affiliates with the center, these scholars can engage in projects around data generated and organized by the center’s leadership team. This includes information on:
- Firm Ownership and Performance
- Ownership of National and International Sports Franchises and Corresponding Performance
- Black-Owned Businesses and Multigenerational Transition
- National and International Family Office Data - Coming soon
- Regional Family Business Data on Governance, Management and Performance - Coming soon
Research with Family Partners
Knowing that many of our partner organizations are fascinating ecosystems of challenges around growth, performance and governance, we work to partner members of our community with our faculty affiliates to ensure mutual gain on both sides. If you’re interested in this kind of partnership from a company standpoint, please reach out to Bart Hamilton at hamiltonb@wustl.edu to find out more.
