Biography

A co-founder of the Family Business Consulting Group Inc., Ward is clinical professor at the Kellogg School of Management (Chicago, USA). Ward teaches strategic management, business leadership and family enterprise continuity. He is an active researcher, speaker and consultant on family succession, ownership, governance and philanthropy.

He is the author or co-author of several leading texts on family business, Keeping the Family Business Healthy, Creating Effective Boards for Private Enterprises, Strategic Planning for the Family Business, Perpetuating the Family Business, Unconventional Wisdom and Family Business Key Issues. He is also an author of a collection of booklets, The Family Business Leadership Series, each focusing on specific issues family businesses face.

Ward graduated from Northwestern University (B.A.) and Stanford Graduate School of Business (M.B.A. and Ph.D.). He is the co-director of The Center for Family Enterprises at Kellogg and currently serves on the boards of four companies in North America and Europe. He conducts regular seminars in Spain, Italy, India and Hong Kong.

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Select Speaking Topics

• Perpetuating the Family Business: The Ultimate Management Challenge.
• Family Business Governance: Business Boards and Family Councils.
• Preparing the Next Generation for Leadership.
• Lessons Learned from Successful Long-Lasting Business Families.
• Continuity Planning for Enterprising Families.
• Resolving the Paradoxes of Family Business.