4/08/2022

Family Business and Science: IFERA 2022

Representatives of our community have recently taken part in an international scientific conference organized by IFERA in Spain.

IFERA (International Family Enterprise Research Academy) is an international research academy of family business, founded in 2001. It is a non-profit association that brings together a network of foreign scientists, researchers and other interested parties engaged in family business research.

This year, the conference was focused on the mechanisms of inheritance of family companies. In particular, the problems of intergenerational competence exchange, internal transformation under conditions of changing global trends, preservation of established traditions and values ​​were touched upon. There were also discussions devoted to the Ukrainian family business. Foreign researchers showed high interest in studying the Ukrainian market and expressed a lot of support, which is incredibly inspiring and adds confidence in everyday work: whether it is business or scientific sphere.

Roksolyana Voronovska, CEO of LvBS Consulting and head of the Family Business Center, and Solomiya Savruk, manager of the Family Business Center, presented a partnership study that they have been working on together with Edhec Family Business Center for a year. Its goal is to determine the main features of conducting Ukrainian family business, trace its dynamics and assess its market impact. It has been recently supplemented with interesting details from new conversations with key company executives about the changes that have taken place since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion.

During the conference, our team received many useful comments from the international scientific community. Researchers are deeply interested in the Ukrainian context of corporate governance, particularly in times of crisis. Our work will make a significant contribution to strengthening classical theories. Solomiya Savruk is convinced: «The unique ability of Ukrainian family companies to manage business, to be incredibly stress-resistant, flexible and dynamic, and at the same time to grow, is really a phenomenon for the world. Therefore, we have no right to delay in researching and spreading this information globally!»

Right now, family business is demonstrating its own stability and ability to effectively support the economy in times of crisis – thus it once again actualizes the need for its study. According to Roksolyana Voronovska: «Itis interesting to observe how family business becomes a separate powerful direction in the field of management.»

We are convinced: even more research achievements and business victories are ahead!