The Inaugural Lecture of the AIDAF-EY Chair: “The Power of Family”
Family businesses return to the forefront of economic and managerial debate with the Inaugural Lecture of the AIDAF-EY Chair in Strategic Management of Family Business in memory of Alberto Falck, scheduled for April 27 at the Auditorium Grande of the SDA Bocconi School of Management. The lecture title is telling: “The Power of Family: Family Firms, Strategy, and Resilience Over Two Decades of Population-Level Evidence.” This event is an occasion of high-level academic and managerial reflection on the role of family businesses in today’s economy, following over twenty years of empirical research.
The event will be opened by Francesco Billari, Rector of Bocconi University, and Cristina Bombassei, President of AIDAF. This will be followed by the keynote lecture by Carlo Salvato, holder of the Chair. At the heart of his presentation will be the distinctive contribution of family businesses in terms of resilience, long-term performance, and governance models.
“Family businesses play a central role in the Italian and global economy. Over the past two decades, they have demonstrated remarkable resilience and long-term performance,” says Salvato. “This resilience is not accidental, but is rooted in what I call the ‘power of family,’ a form of strategic capital that enables value creation across generations.”
The lecture will specifically address succession processes, governance structures, and the role of the younger generations, highlighting how well-managed generational transitions are associated with better results in terms of growth and profitability. Looking to the future, Carlo Salvato stresses his intention to further strengthen the Chair as an international hub for research and education: “My goal is to deepen, through research, our understanding of entrepreneurial families and their crucial role in ensuring the long-term prosperity of businesses, while promoting innovation, sustainability, and internationalization.”
This will be followed by a panel discussion with representatives from academia and business, moderated by Massimo Meloni, EY Italy Private Leader.
The event will close with the announcement of the Dissertation Award in memory of Guido Corbetta and the final remarks by Bocconi University President Andrea Sironi.