Award for 'Zooms sur les Conjoints de Dirigeants'

The study entitled "Zooms sur les Conjoints de Dirigeants" (spotlight on the spouses of family business leaders), conducted over a three-year period by the ICHEC Brussels Management School 'Families in Business' Chair, in conjunction with Banque de Luxembourg, a founder member of the Chair, has won the Award for the "Best Project Related To Transgenerational Entrepreneurship"

Valérie Denis, Director of the ICHEC Brussels Management School ‘Families in Business’ Chair, and Miruna Radu-Lefevre, Holder of the ‘Family Entrepreneurship and Society Chair’ at Audencia Business School, have won the Award for the Best Project Related To Transgenerational Entrepreneurship at the FERC 2019 (Family Enterprise Research Conference) at Burlington, Vermont, USA.

This award is for the best project on transgenerational entrepreneurship based on quantitative or qualitative data.  The panel of judges, composed of Professors and International Research Directors, praised the project's unique approach, its interest for families in business and its rigorous methodology. 

Entitled “A social exchange approach of spousal influence on intergenerational succession”, the winning project is based on the study conducted by Valérie Denis and her team at the ICHEC Brussels Management School ‘Families in Business’ Chair. The study's results are presented in the book “Zooms sur les Conjoints de Dirigeants”.

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 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 Executive 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 gain a greater appreciation of their role in the success of the businesses that they provide support to every day.

“Zooms sur les Conjoints de Dirigeants” Description of the book and ordering details available on www.zoomssurlesconjoints.be