The relevance of a whole-person learning approach to family business education: concepts, evidence, and implications

Abstract

Preparing the next generation (“next-gens”) to lead the family business is imperative to firm continuity. Yet given the complex interconnected systems of family and business, next-gens can often struggle with unique challenges related to their various roles, identities, and internal career opportunities. Although training successors has been widely discussed, noticeably missing are investigations into the role that family business education can play. Drawing upon an existing undergraduate family business course, we explore why and how “whole-person learning”—an experiential pedagogy focused on the acquisition of cognitive, emotional, and social skills—is a relevant approach to next-gen development. Through interviews with students, their parents, and the instructor, along with a follow-up survey 1 year later, we empirically reveal the experiences that next-gens underwent as a result of the course and conceptually link these to early stages in family business succession. In particular, our multifaceted data show how a whole-person learning approach can foster healthy next-gen individuation through the development of cognitive, emotional, and social intelligences. As scholarly interest in family business education increases, our findings have important implications for family business owners interested in preparing the next generation, as well as family business educators interested in experiential pedagogies.