No surprise here.
Forget the celebrity CEO. Look beyond Six Sigma and the latest technology fad. One of the biggest strategic advantages a company can have, it turns out, is blood lines. BusinessWeek has found that a surprisingly large share of Corporate America — 177 companies, or a third of the S&P 500 — have founders or their families still on the scene, in most cases as directors or senior managers. And, in what may be Corporate America's biggest and best-kept secret, they're beating the pants off their nonfamily-run rivals.
Of course. Owners have different incentives than managers, and family owners tend to be long-term owners not short-term traders. The article gives plenty of logical reasons as to why family or founder owned businesses are so successful, including: familiarity with the company, quick decision making ability, and a tendency to reinvest in the company due to the long-term focus.
